Complicated
by TheUnrealInsomniac
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki wasn't sure what to expect when he moved to university. Mostly studying, partying and making new friends if he'd had to guess. Maybe, just maybe a bit of luck with the ladies too? Only if only. University!AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Not like I could do as much damage to it as Kishimoto did though.**

* * *

 **Complicated**

Chapter One

* * *

Naruto growled as he rolled over in his bed, slamming his head into his pillow and curling it over his ears, the dawn sunshine peeking through the curtains of his new bedroom doing little to pick up his mood.

Because the loud thumping from the next room still hadn't stopped. It wasn't like he could ignore the thumping … because he also knew exactly what kind of thumping it was. The punctuating moans, grunts and slamming of metal, he assumed as his own bed frame was metal, making it perfectly clear.

Not to mention the feminine, ecstatic screams that usually told him he would be getting a little break. Where he could manage a twenty minute nap. Maybe.

Then it would start again.

Naruto wouldn't lie, he'd enjoyed listening to it for the first hour … he was a single, red blooded man and the young woman he had met yesterday was stunningly attractive. But the sun was coming up now and he was already missing the time before she'd moved in.

He'd literally been in the student apartment for two … no three days. He wasn't sure, the lack of sleep was fogging his brain, and up until yesterday afternoon he'd had the whole thing to himself.

His grandpa had dropped him off early, using it as an excuse to perv on the barely legal, first year students away from the watching eyes of his wife. He'd insisted on taking Naruto to the student dorms when he learned that in his apartment, there would be at least two young women staying there.

Thankfully for Naruto's mental health, neither girl had been there, even the other dude hadn't moved in yet. So the old man had grumbled and slumped off somewhere with a muttered 'see you later kid'.

Naruto had felt so bad for him, well a bit bad for him, that he'd decided he wouldn't tell Granny Tsunade that he'd been up to his old tricks again.

And so Naruto had spent his first two days settling in. He'd gone food shopping with the money from his parents. He now had more instant ramen than either his mother or grandmother would ever allow him to have. He'd have to make sure to eat it all before they visited.

He could do that.

His dad would appreciate it though. As would his sister, Kurama ate more ramen than he ever did anyway. Her refusal to put on weight despite the heavy ramen based diet a mystery to all of them.

'Oh my God!' came a particularly loud moan from the other side of the wall. Again. 'Right there!'

Well at least he knew his new roommate's stance on God. That was something he supposed.

But fuck's sake, he just …

She _knew_ he was in the next room! He helped her move half her damn stuff in! Did she just not care?

A long sensual moan filled the air as he heard bodies slump onto her bed. The metal creaking and squeaking as the two young adults shifted into restful, exhausted silence. He assumed, and hoped, at least.

He was severely tempted to suggest to Ino, that it might be an idea to move her bed to the _other_ side of her room. Or if she wanted her and her boyfriend could fuck on his bed. It had sounded like they already were all night anyway. At least then he'd get a front row seat.

The blond scrabbled a hand over his face, messing with the bedhead fringe pushed down to mesh with his eyebrows. He blew out a long breath, trying to elevate the plastered down hair and grumbled.

It was reaching six in the morning. Surely they'd stop now? It definitely sounded like they'd passed out with how hard the bed had squeaked just.

Then again the amount of action those poor bed springs had seen last night … and the rest of the time they were there he imagined. If student dorm beds could talk the walls wouldn't even start.

Well maybe the bed was just about ready to give out. Maybe he could finally get some sleep? His classes literally didn't start until the week after next. The glorious misnomer that was Fresher's Week lasted two weeks and they were only in the first half of the first week.

Maybe with all the parties and the buzz of newly discovered freedom of those partying … he could work out some of the stress from Ino's enticing moans keeping him up all night.

He glanced down and sighed. A noticeable tent forming in his boxers he momentarily considered doing something about it, but honestly? He felt creepy enough being turned on by the sound of two strangers getting it on. Masturbating to it was currently a step too far.

Besides, if they started up again he'd be back to square one and he honestly didn't have the same kind of good-natured patience for it he did when they'd started just after midnight.

So no, a cold shower and something to eat. Maybe the sound of him in the kitchen/living area would remind the two inconsiderate sex fiends they weren't alone in the apartment.

He doubted that if he was honest, but a cold shower and some breakfast sounded good. Then he could go check out the library and see if he couldn't get some more free stuff from the Fresher's fair outside it.

Free shit was free shit after all, plus he could meet some of the female students which after last night …

He knocked his knuckles against his head and growled. He hadn't felt this uncontrollably horny since high school and fooling around with Tayuya in his bedroom back home. A cold shower was definitely in order.

He slowly extracted himself from the mess of his bed and, with a dirty look shot at the suspiciously quiet wall, Naruto padded into the en suite bathroom. Glancing at his reflection, Naruto grimaced. Pulling down his drooping eyelids he shook his head sleepily.

He had to hope his roommate would decide to spend tonight getting boned elsewhere. He didn't think he could be nice to her after _two_ nights of listening to her getting screwed senseless.

Water cascaded over his shoulders as he hissed and gasped at the shock of cold and shivered as more and more of him was covered in the cold water.

Feeling his arousal slip away and down the drain like the water, Naruto finally relaxed. His body slowly uncoiling from the fresh lack of tension and he leant his head back to allow the water to wash over his face.

Turning the switch to hot, Naruto was showered and clad in a towel inside of fifteen minutes and feeling more revitalised than he probably had any business feeling.

Another towel joined the one around his waist, as he rubbed at his damp hair, and smiled. Noisy sex having roommates or not, it was still absolutely amazing to have a shower all to himself.

No more having to wait for his recently graduated sister to get her lazy ass out of the bath just so he could grab a quick shower. What was even better was she wasn't here to steal his shampoo and shower gel just to fuck with him.

He loved his big sister but fuck did Kurama delight in winding him up.

Naruto sighed in satisfaction as the sound of the gentle snoring came through the wall. Finally, he could have gone to sleep, but he would settle for being able to be in the apartment in reasonable quiet.

Towelling off and launching his towels over his desk chair, Naruto rooted through his drawers and pulled out some clothes. Dressing swiftly, Naruto checked the alarm clock on his bedside table was switched off. Last thing he wanted was to wake them up and have them start all over again.

Patting at his still damp hair, he shrugged and made his way to the kitchen/living room, scooping up his phone and keys in one fluid motion. He wasn't getting locked out of his bedroom. Again. The grumpy looking dudes at the front desk looked like they wanted to dropkick him into the wall the third time he'd done it.

He was excited to be moved out! It wasn't his fault he wasn't used to having to have keys on him at all times.

He tiptoed past Ino's room, the sound of light breathing glorious in the quiet of the early morning, and shouldered his way into the kitchen/living room one door down.

It was a surprisingly big room considering the smallish bedrooms, he'd only seen his and Ino's rooms but there was only really enough room for a three quarter bed tucked behind the en suite, a desk that span the entire width of the long room, a bookcase and wardrobe against the wall that connected his and Ino's rooms and shelves above the desk.

He could reach out to almost all the furniture from some point on his bed it was that narrow.

In comparison, the kitchen/living room was at least the size of every bedroom combined and then with a little bit more. One corner had a lino floor, countertops with cupboards beneath, a stove, a sink and two fridges at either ends created an L shape, with corresponding cabinets above some of the cupboards.

The rest of the room was carpeted, a light green with patterns that would look more at home in a bowling alley than a student's apartment but whatever, a couple of well-loved but still comfy couches framed around a medium range TV that was on a stand in one of the corners. A table that looked like it'd been brought from a community centre, had four similarly acquired chairs around it, sat opposite the window on the far corner from the kitchen.

The window looked out onto the surrounding streets that made up the outskirts of Konoha's city centre. Which in the early morning sun, had a certain kind of beauty that only came with the dawn.

Not too shabby for his first apartment outside of his parents' house on the other end of the city. He set to making breakfast. He had hours before anything would start up, he may as well take his time.

Flicking on the TV, early morning telly blaring out, as the kettle boiled Naruto smiled to himself. Despite how the day had started and broken sleep … he had a good feeling about today.

* * *

Naruto snapped awake as a large hand shook his shoulder, his neck aching as he shoved off the hand and groaned, blinking out sleep coated eyelids as he righted himself against the couch.

When had he lain down? What time was it?

'Hey dude.' The man attached to the large hand said loudly. Two distinct, fang shaped red tattoos on either cheek drawing his eyes. 'You need to wake up, one of your roommates is moving in and she's got questions I ain't got the answers to.'

The blond glared up at the source of his recent irritation. 'Who are you?'

'Kiba,' the brunet said with a frown. 'Now wake the hell up, I gotta go and this chick is bothering me. I got a dog to feed.'

'Kiba …' Naruto said, the memory of that named being screamed all night spurring on his irritation to outright grumpiness. 'What time is it?'

'Eleven, come on dude, if I don't get out of here, Ino's gonna make me take her shopping.' Kiba tapped his foot, kept glancing over his shoulder and towards the obvious sounds of movement in the hallway. 'I'll owe you one.'

He wasn't exactly keen on Ino's whatever owing him one, but he figured he should at least help the new person moving in. 'Fine, let me get up.'

'Great,' Kiba said with a relieved smile. 'If Ino asks where I went just tell her I'll call her later.'

Kiba, asshole that he was, barrelled out the door and Naruto was pretty sure he was already out through the front door to the apartment before the door had shut.

The blond righted himself, swinging his legs around so he was sat upright and forced himself to his feet. He cracked his neck as scratched at his cheek, the scratch of sleep in his eyes making him blink repeatedly.

'Neji,' a woman said from the other side of the door. 'Careful with that suitcase it's got my work out gear in it.'

'I know Tenten,' "Neji" replied as there was an almighty grunt and the sound of a door being pushed open. 'Did you bring all your weights? You could have used Lee's.'

'Shut up and lift,' Tenten snarked back and immediately Naruto liked her. 'They're not that heavy.'

He carefully opened the door and was greeted with the sight of a woman, her brown hair raised into two almost perfectly circular buns on the top of her head, just above her ears. She actually looked a bit like a panda now he thought about it.

She was wearing a loose fitting white t-shirt which showed off her impressive arms, the weights were clearly doing their job, and a pair of maroon pants. She turned to him with a polite smile and held out her hand.

'Hi, I'm Tenten, are you one of the roommates?'

'Yeah, I'm Naruto,' Naruto said as he took her hand. The grip she gave him fierce as they shook and he let his hand fall to his side. Fighting the urge to check she hadn't broken anything. 'I'm in the room at the top of the hall, you just moving in?'

'Mhmm, my classes don't start until the end of the month but I figured best to come and get a look at the place. Learn where the gym is and so on.' She made a dismissive wave to the front door and scowled. 'That scruffy looking guy doesn't live here does he? He was kind of a prick.'

Naruto smirked. Oh yeah, he liked this girl already. 'No, he's a … friend of the other girl who's in that room.'

He pointed at Ino's door and grimaced reflexively. His neck was still stiff from his impromptu couch nap.

'Friend huh?' Neji asked with a raised eyebrow as he appeared in the doorway of Tenten's room. 'I assume a brand new friend?'

Naruto frowned. He wasn't exactly happy with Ino right now but the way Neji was looking at the door behind them …

'And you are?' Naruto asked, trying not to be too rude. And probably failing. Like he was failing to stare at the guy's weird, no pupil having eyes. The long brown hair he could deal with … but those eyes man, they were weird.

'Neji Hyuuga,' he replied, without offering his hand. 'I'm just helping Tenten move in. I've been at the university for a year already. What's your name?'

'Naruto,' he replied meeting the guy's eyes. A weight growing between them, so palpable Naruto felt like not even Tenten with her brawny arms could lift it.

'Honestly,' Tenten said, pushing Neji back towards the front door and sighed exasperatedly. 'Stop playing the overprotective boyfriend card and get more of my stuff out of the car. Sorry Naruto, he's nice really. He just gets jealous easy.'

'I'm not jealous,' Neji said haughtily, pouting like an honest to God child. 'I'm just making introductions with your new roommate.'

'Yes babe,' Tenten said with a roll of her eyes. 'Well now you're done measuring him up can we stop? I don't want a repeat of you and that nice guy from the dojo back home okay?'

Neji, apparently mollycoddled enough to stop being a judgemental ass, shrugged and went where he was told. Still casting a final look at Naruto before going.

'Hey, sorry if I was being a bit-' Naruto started as he nodded in the direction of Neji.

The brunette waved her hand at him and smiled. 'Oh don't mind him. He'll warm up once he's sure you're not trying to get into my pants. He comes from a very traditional family … they're not keen on co-ed living arrangements. I'm still breaking him out of some of those stupid ideas.'

'It's cool,' Naruto said with an easy smile. 'But did I hear you say dojo earlier?'

A gleam shone in the young woman's eye as she turned to him. 'Yeah, I do kendo and kung fu, bit of karate and jujitsu. Do you know any martial arts?'

He beamed and nodded quickly. 'Yeah, I got my black belt in karate last year. I trained with my family since I was a kid. There's a community centre nearby that hosts different classes throughout the week if you want me to show you where it is?'

Tenten grabbed his arm and squeezed what he supposed was gently. 'Really? That'd be great! Do you know if they have kendo? I was worried I'd have to stick to sparring with Neji. I need fresh meat Naruto and ever since we started dating properly Neji won't spar properly. It's driving me crazy.'

'I don't know but I'm sure we can ask,' Naruto said as he rubbed at his arm once Tenten let it go. 'I can also answer any questions about the place if you need. I've been here since Monday so I've pretty much got the area figured out.'

She nodded and grinned as Neji reappeared at the front door, looking red faced and thoroughly worn out. 'That would be awesome. Let me just get settled in and then we can talk?'

'Talk?' Neji asked cautiously. 'About what?'

'Apartment stuff,' Tenten said fluidly. 'Stand down boyfriend.'

The long haired man scowled and gave Naruto a curt nod as he shifted down the hallway and into Tenten's room. To the chorus of Tenten's swallowed laughter as the feminine looking man tripped and nearly toppled onto her bed.

Yeah, Naruto _definitely_ liked Tenten.

* * *

 **AN: Okay story time. I started writing fanfiction for Naruto way back in 2006, it's actually what got me started down this crazy train that is writing.**

 **But it got to a certain point where I couldn't do it anymore. I lost interest in the manga and the fanfiction community was becoming toxic so I shut down all of my Naruto fics and switched to Harry Potter. I hadn't even tried to write for Naruto for years and then there was a NaruSaku event on Tumblr and I got the bug again.**

 **A revitalised interest in one of my original OTPs and the very enthusiastic reaction to my new works posted on Tumblr gave me the confidence to go for a chaptered fic again. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope to have a steady flow of new ones out for you regularly.**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **TheUnrealInsomniac**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Naruto groaned as he shouldered open the front door, grimacing as it hit the wall and bounced back against his injured arm.

'Note to self,' he half-whispered, half-growled. 'If a psycho kendo master who misleads you about her skills asks you if you want to spar … you say no.'

He clutched at his shoulder and winced as a muscle under the sizeable bruise on his upper arm throbbed. Yeah, he was definitely not sparring with Tenten in anything other than karate.

Good, solid, hand to hand combat where he didn't have to worry about wooden swords smacking him upside the head. Repeatedly.

Another painful throb, this time from his left temple, made Naruto hiss. Blind spot his ass, she was just damn fast.

He rubbed his palm up his forehead and through his sweat-matted hair.

Ice, he needed ice. Then a shower. Maybe a shower and then some ice. He didn't really know, his shoulders were heavy and his workout bag was trying to drag him down by his neck or something.

Dragging himself away from the door, letting it swing and suddenly slow down just before closing, Naruto tried not to breathe in too much.

He could tell he stank to high heaven as well. There had been one too many people who stopped and stared after him when he'd been stumbling back to the apartment. Plus there was that pretty girl with the dark red hair who had all but dived out of the elevator at her floor.

She should have just been thankful he'd had the common sense to switch into a tank top when he and Tenten started sparring. If he'd been wearing a t-shirt he'd sparred in, she probably would have suffocated from the stink of him.

Normally he'd have grabbed a quick shower at the dojo, it was actually just part of a gym so there were standard changing rooms. But he hadn't wanted to stick around any longer, he'd only just got away from Tenten in one piece.

He'd left the apartment with Tenten for the dojo around five, after a quick rundown on the local shops, buses and bars … the woman had practically dragged him and her boyfriend, who Naruto had a lot more respect and sympathy for after he tapped in as Tenten's sparring partner so Naruto could esca- go home! So he could go home.

It was dark out now and he honestly would have to force himself to not just collapse on his bed. Because the second he lay down, he knew that would be where he'd stay for the night.

So yes. A shower, a very, _very_ hot shower, a bag of ice for his aching shoulder, and then sleep without an alarm.

Or at least that was the plan, right up until he'd walked past the open door that led into the kitchen/living room area of the student apartment. The TV switched on to some kind of reality TV show … The Real Housewives of Kumogakure or some such crap. God why did they put this sort of shit on the TV?

He must have made some kind of disapproving noise because the blonde head of the beautiful woman sat crossed legged on the sofa whipped around in accusation.

'Yes?' She asked with a raised, manicured brow. A dangerous tone sitting neatly under the clipped one. 'Problem smart guy?'

'I mean,' Naruto said simply. Self-preservation be damned, he didn't have to put up with Ino's shit taste in TV like he did his parents and sister. 'Is there even anything worthwhile on that damn show?'

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Ino just rolled her eyes at him and scoffed. 'Typical man, just because it's not got fighting or fast cars in it. There's lots of interesting stuff going on between the different women and their husbands and children. Drama Naruto, it's all about the drama.'

'And the sex huh?' Naruto snorted as he dumped his bag down on the floor by the door. 'Yeah, don't try and pretend the shirtless men in it aren't part of the appeal.'

Ino gave his bag a pointed look, wrinkled her nose and stared at him. 'You're not leaving that there are you?'

He waved dismissively at her. 'Don't worry, I'm just getting some ice and then me and my smelly bag will be out of your hair. Watch your show.'

But he was apparently more interesting to glare at than the women on her show, as Ino watched him limp over to the freezer. 'What happened to you?'

Peering up, a wince crossing his face earning him a lessened glare from his gorgeous roommate, he fished out some ice cubes and knocked the freezer closed again with his hip. Pouring the ice into a glass, and then promptly pressing the cooling glass against his arm, right on the shiner of a bruise Tenten had given him, he sighed in relief.

'I met one of our other roommates,' Naruto said as he rolled the glass over his exposed shoulder.

'And he kicked your ass?' Ino leant against the cushions of the sofa. A measured look running over the full sweaty glory of him. She didn't look impressed. 'Did you say something?'

Naruto snorted as he picked his water bottle out of his bag and took a long gulp of water. 'She.'

'She?' Ino smirked. She gestured to his arms and her smirk grew a little bigger. 'Are you telling me, my muscly roommate got his ass handed to him by a girl?'

'Mhmm,' Naruto chuckled. 'And she's your roommate too Ino, I'd be careful. She's a madwoman.'

A light laugh broke the slightly judgy … okay maybe he was being diplomatic because Ino was hot … façade the blonde put up and she shook her head. 'I'll make sure not to steal her milk. Are you alright though? That bruise on your shoulder looks pretty nasty.'

Naruto shrugged, regretting it immediately. 'Ow, yeah I'm fine. Nothing a hot shower and rest won't fix.'

He rolled the glass over his bruise again and winced.

'Oh for god's sake,' Ino said as she got up and moved over to him. 'Go sit down, watching you is painful.'

She guided him away from the freezer, not unkindly, and all but pushed him down onto the sofa. Without a word she held out her hand expectantly for the glass, or at least he assumed as Ino whipped it out of his hand, and bustled around the kitchen as Naruto reclined back into the sofa.

'So go on, why were you fighting our new roommate?' Ino looked back over her shoulder. 'I'm assuming there was a good reason?'

Naruto nodded, not letting his eyes drift down to Ino's shapely hips as she pulled out a dishtowel from a drawer, wrapped the ice cubes left in the glass, and grabbed some more out of the freezer.

'Yeah, she asked if there was a place to do martial arts and I took her and her boyfriend to the gym round the corner?' Naruto explained as he turned to look at the TV. He had no idea who these women were, but they all looked to be somewhere in their early forties and talked like the teenage girls. Though some of them were definitely giving off a MILF vibe.

He really needed to get laid.

'I didn't know you did martial arts,' Ino said conversationally as she walked back over to him, passing him the cool dishcloth and plopped down on the sofa next to him. 'So you guys practiced together or something?'

He nodded and pressed the cloth to his bruise. Smiling gratefully at the other blonde, the smile being returned, Naruto sighed. 'Yeah, and she's really good. She's nice too, I think you'll like her as well. Her boyfriend's a bit of a tool though.'

Ino gave him a knowing look. 'Bit jealous are we?'

Naruto pulled a face at her. 'No, seriously. Wait til you meet him, you'll see what I mean.'

'Uh huh,' Ino said, clearly not convinced.

Naruto decided not to tell her Neji had been a judgemental douche about Kiba for now. Though speaking of him.

'Did that Kiba guy get in touch with you after he left?'

Ino shrugged. 'No, he said something about having to leave to feed his dog this morning and bolted. Don't think I'll see him again, a man picks a dog over spending all day with all this?' She gestured to herself. She shook her head and splayed out her fingers. 'Clearly a moron. I can do better.'

Casting a covert look over Ino, he had to agree. Naruto liked dogs as much as the next guy but if the choices were sex with Ino or feeding a dog? He'd have never left her bed.

Ah well, at least he might actually get a good night's sleep tonight after all. He was definitely going to need it after the way his day had gone. And a repeat of sparring with Tenten any time soon was out of the question. He liked being able to feel things other than pain and the woman was an absolute beast in a gi.

'So I was going to invite you out for a drink later,' Ino started, casting a slightly concerned look over him. 'Y'know, as a get to know you thing for the roommates but if you're this beat up and Tenten?' Ino looked at him expectantly until he nodded. Smiling briefly she continued. 'Right, anyway. I'm gonna guess that Tenten is going to be hanging out with her boyfriend?'

Naruto shrugged, wincing immediately, and his hand holding the wet cloth went to rub at his shoulder, mercifully he'd worn a tank top or he'd be soaking clothes on the shared sofa.

'Yeah, I think we'll give it a miss tonight,' Ino said with a shake of her head. 'Besides, maybe it'd be best to wait for the last guy to show up. The security guards on the door said he'd be arriving tomorrow. Full house and then we go out for a group drink?'

Naruto pursed his lips and inclined his head. 'Sounds like a good idea to me. Though how do you know when the last person is moving in? And how do you know it's a guy? When I asked them about it they told me to fuck off and leave them alone.'

The lighter blonde smirked at him and leant forward, the t-shirt she wore dipping around the collar a little to reveal her collarbones. She inched a finger in her direction.

Taking the hint, Naruto leaned in, keeping his eyes from drifting low yet again, she was his roommate, he wasn't going to be a creep in her home. He wasn't his grandpa.

'I can be very persuasive when it comes to men who have information I want,' she whispered and held her hand to the side of her mouth, as if to keep anyone else possibly hearing them. 'And I have boobs,' Ino said back at her normal volume, leaning back into the sofa with a smug smile.

Naruto snorted, the action making him wince _again_ , but fell back into the sofa with a laugh. 'Yeah, okay, that'll work.'

Ino nodded with a giggle of her own. 'I didn't even try really hard. You'd think a pair of guys who worked on student dorms security would be used to pretty young women flirting with them. They're not exactly bad looking guys, though the bandage across the nose is a bit weird.'

Yeah, Naruto had thought that was weird too if he was honest. But then again his grandpa wore eye make-up and he and his sister had weird whisker-like birthmarks. Weird was relative.

'So go on,' Naruto said as he dabbed at his face a bit more. 'What did you learn about our new roommate with your womanly wiles?'

Ino shrugged, her eyes lingering on him a second longer than she probably meant to when his hand dabbed at his neck, a bit of water running down under the loose fitting tank top. 'Not much to be honest, he's about the same age as us, coming here to study Geography if you can even believe people actually do that, and Politics. They couldn't give me his name though, apparently that's some kind of data protection thing.'

'Bullshit,' Naruto scoffed as he placed the damp cloth down on the coffee table. 'If they were worried about that, they wouldn't have told you anything. They were probably just hoping you'd try to convince them a bit more first. Were probably hoping you'd flash them or something.'

Ino raised an eyebrow at him and for a moment Naruto worried he'd said the wrong thing. Tayuya had always said he was lucky she didn't care what stupid things came out of his mouth or he'd still be a virgin for how much he got in his own way around women.

But Ino just smiled sardonically and shrugged one shoulder. 'They didn't have anything I wanted to know badly enough to go that far. Besides, I'd have probably given them heart attacks if I'd just whipped the girls out for them.'

Ino mimed an action of lifting up her top, pulling an over the top sultry face to top it all off, which was so funny Naruto couldn't take it seriously enough to find even slightly alluring, bursting into laughter as Ino, clutching her chest like she was having a heart attack, collapsed backwards against the sofa cushion, eyes half lidded and her mouth hanging agape.

Before she bounced back and started laughing with him. But it didn't last too long until laughter was starting to hurt, and not in the way that it does when something is just too funny, but in the way like you just got yourself beat up and now you're laughing?! Are you crazy?! sort of way.

He clutched at his ribs, grimacing and growling faintly to himself. 'Shit.'

Ino, whose hand reached out to his shoulder when it looked like he was going to topple over, righted him and frowned cautiously. 'Are you alright? You look like you're seriously hurting.'

Naruto waved her off, ignoring how long her hand stayed on his arm, specifically on his muscled shoulder, and smiled painfully. 'No, no, I'm fine. Long shower and an early night and I'll be right as rain, you'll see.'

He went to stand, Ino just watching him go, her eyes swimming with concern still, and Naruto smiled again. A little less strained this time. 'Do you mind if I leave my stuff here for a bit? I'd rather not lift anything too heavy right now. I'll come get it in the morning.'

The blonde shook her head. 'No, that's okay. If they stink too much I'll just dump them in front of your door or something. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?'

He grinned at her concern, it was sweet of her and it was kinda nice to have her worrying after him, but shook his head. Slowly of course.

'I heal up quick, always have, I'll be ready for a roommates' night out tomorrow. If the new guy and Tenten want to go of course.' Naruto limped his way over to the door with a muffled groan. He hoped he'd remembered to pack painkillers when he'd moved from home.

'Well if not,' Ino said nonchalantly. 'We can always just go out the two of us. Roommate bonding one at a time sounds fun to me.'

Naruto paused at the door and looked back. Because if he wasn't entirely certain she wasn't … he'd think Ino was asking him out for a drink on her own. Like just the two of them. As in a date.

But she was just looking at him with worry, probably half-expecting to have to call an ambulance or something in the middle of the night.

Nah, he was reading into things that weren't there. He was just letting a bit of horny fuelled hope lead him to see things that weren't actually happening.

He smiled and nodded. 'That'd be cool, but check with the others first, don't want them to feel snubbed or something if they found out we went out for roommate bonding without them.'

The woman rolled her eyes but smiled. 'I doubt they'd take it personally but fine, it'd be kinda fun to go out as a big group anyway. I already know a few places we can try. Ooo, I'll check the Facebook page for Freshers to see if there's anything event wise going on tomorrow. I'll let you know!'

'Cool,' Naruto said as Ino's face lit up, her phone being whipped up from the table, the faint glow of a screen lighting up her face. 'I'll see you later Ino.'

'Bye Naruto,' Ino said without looking up at him, waving him away dismissively. 'Go rest up, you're gonna want to be fighting fit if I find something!'

'Can't wait,' Naruto replied, the ache around his shoulders and legs starting to wear him down as he shouldered his way out of the kitchen/living room.

Drinking in a bar where he didn't have to use a fake I.D. or charm his way past a bouncer. That'd be fun.

Plus, he might actually get lucky if there was a heavy student presence. The way Ino had been staring at him … cus she'd definitely been looking at him, he hadn't imagined _that_ part, told him he was probably not too bad to look at and Freshers brought out the more adventurous side of people if Kurama was to be believed.

He seriously hoped so.

He could still hear the sound of Ino and Kiba screwing the night away in the back of his head. That needed replacing and quickly. By someone moaning his name all night. He wouldn't say no to it being Ino if he was honest.

She had sounded quite nice last night after all.

…

'Don't be a creep,' Naruto growled to himself as he shouldered his way into his room, wrestling his keys out of his pocket to unlock the door before all but collapsing onto the floor of his room.

He could fall asleep right here, he really could. But then he'd just wake up even sorer.

Forcing himself up, using the wall to support himself, Naruto got to the en-suite and with some very careful movements, slipped out of his clothes, leaving them where they fell, and into the porcelain tub, water filling the bath with another, less careful twist of his wrist.

Naruto eased back with a groan as the warm water slowly rose around him, letting his eyes drift closed and his aching muscles sing in their relief. He'd just lie here for a bit and soak, let his muscles heal. He had every intention of using them tomorrow night.

They needed to not cause any problems.

His eyes got heavier and heavier until he drifted off right there, the image of bouncing breasts on a moaning woman lulling him into dreamland.

* * *

Thankfully for Naruto's back and neck, he wasn't left to sleep in his bathtub for long.

He'd woken up half an hour after he'd dozed off, he figured he must have moved in his sleep and jammed his leg against the tap, because he woke up in a fresh new agony that had nothing to do with his beating from Tenten.

Rubbing at his shin tenderly, Naruto glared at the unmoved tap.

Or, going by the tell-tale chirp of his phone's message alert, he'd been woken up by his phone and the reason his shin hurt was because he had jerked awake and then kicked the tap.

Naruto winced as he retracted his leg back under the water, leaning over the tub to his sweatpants, which he'd just sort of let fall in a pile on the bathroom floor, and fished around for his phone.

Pulling it out of his pocket, the phone vibrate and chirped at him again. He pulled down the alert menu to see who he had to thank for the newest bruise that was probably already forming.

Tenten, fit with a picture for her new contact profile on his phone, was responsible it turned out. Which only managed to add insult to the injuries he'd suffered from her.

He soon forgave her though when he read her message.

 _Sorry for kicking your ass so bad Naruto! Me and Neji picked up takeout as a housewarming meal for the apartment. We're in the living room with Ino if you wanna come join us after your shower. Ino said you'd looked pretty banged up. Did I mention I was sorry?_

Naruto chuckled and tapped out a speedy reply.

 _It's alright, just don't expect me to spar anytime soon, what did you guys get?_

He was just draining the water from the tub to start his shower when Tenten's response came through with one single, glorious word.

 _Pizza_.

A picture of Tenten holding up a pizza box with an over the top pout followed soon after, making Naruto laugh loud enough that they could probably hear him in the living room.

 _Tell me it's got meat on it._

 _Duh._

Naruto chuckled and tapped out a final message that he would be out soon and to please save him … his stomach gurgled as he was about to say a couple slices before he decided for half a pizza instead.

Ignoring the phone from that point on, Naruto had his shower, admittedly taking his time as each movement was still stiff. Between getting his ass kicked and sleeping in a tub, his body moving at all was a miracle.

The warm water washed over him and he felt his muscles relax slowly. He lost track of how long he stood under the water, then washing himself, but by the time he was clambering out of the shower his fingers were pruny.

Grabbing a towel from the radiated bar next to the sink, Naruto wrapped himself up and snorted at how small the towel was. He knew he should have brought his workout bag into his room. It had his proper towel in it and now he was going to have to dry himself off with a hand towel.

His sister would be pissing herself if she could see him now.

But with the wafting smell of pizza coming down the hall, and somehow passing through his door, he was spurred on and with a flurry of towelling off, Naruto was dry and slipping on fresh clothes in a matter of minutes.

Scooping up his phone, pausing to see the laughing emoticon from Tenten, Naruto darted down the hall and went through into the kitchen/living room and straight into the amused faces of two women and the raised eyebrows of one feminine looking man.

Which he should probably stop referring to Neji as if he was honest. He wasn't _that_ female looking.

Naruto looked at the brunet for a split second.

Long hair allowed to fall down his back and features that would be described as boy-pretty, by someone who was too insecure in their sexuality to acknowledge that men could be immensely pretty, just naturally.

Men like Neji Hyuuga. With longer hair than either woman in the room. Including his own girlfriend.

Okay, so he was being fair. But at least Neji didn't look like a girl when he spoke.

'Well that was quicker than expected,' Neji said, proving Naruto right with his deep voice. 'We saved you the half a pizza you wanted …'

Neji rolled his eyes as Naruto all but snatched the box out of his hands with a muttered thanks and set to the task of eating the brilliance that was pizza.

'I think you helped him kick up an appetite,' Ino said with a joking nudge of Tenten's ribs, an almost empty glass of wine hanging expertly from Ino's fingers. 'That or just kicked his ass hard enough he needs to refuel.'

Tenten, who was watching Naruto chow down like it was his first meal in months, shrugged. 'Eh, I've seen worse. You wait til you see our friend Lee eat curry. That'll put you off food for a week.'

'No,' Neji said firmly. 'We're not doing that again.' Neji's voice held a note of dread as he stared from Tenten to Naruto, who was taking a break before devouring his second slice. 'Not with the way Naruto eats.'

Tenten smirked and shook her head at Ino's raised eyebrows. Later mouthed quite prominently.

The four of them sat eating pizza, chatting idly, getting a little more relaxed the more pizza was eaten and the more alcohol was drunk … Naruto's supply of beer being shared out evenly … the atmosphere loosened some more.

Tenten was leaning against Neji, her legs over his lap on the sofa, his fingers and hers entwined as Ino told them a story from her time at high school, a fun getting to know you game Tenten had suggested, from her place in the armchair facing the back wall.

'And you've never seen someone go whiter than this boy,' Ino giggled into her hand as she drained her glass. 'The way he stared at his best friend when the bottle landed on him. They'd never thought it could happen. Getting a dude instead of one of the chicks!'

They all laughed, even Neji smiled, as Ino mimed the face of utter disgust and shock of the two dudes who had apparently been made to kiss one another. It was only fair.

The laughter came to an abrupt halt however when there was a polite but forceful knock from the hallway.

'The hell?' Naruto said as he put his bottle of beer down, checking the time on his phone. 'Who dyou reckon that is? It's only a little after midnight and we weren't being that loud.'

Ino was louder last night, Naruto thought absently.

'Maybe you've got neighbours who have early starts in the morning?' Neji offered, with far less judgement now he was three beers deep.

'Nah,' Ino said as she poured more wine into her and Tenten's glasses. 'Classes don't start for another week for anyone. And the front desk guys won't have heard us laughing. Hell, half the people in the dorms have been fucking like rabbits and they've not done anything about that.'

Naruto and Tenten shared a look. Neji, clearly doing his best not to snark at Ino, alcohol made him polite it would seem, shrugged and said quite calmly. 'Maybe the person is annoyed that there's noise coming from here two nights in a row?'

'How do you know there was noise coming from here last night?' Ino asked a little hotly but maybe that was more because she was looking at Naruto accusingly.

'We bumped into that scruffy dude Kiba?' Tenten said to save her boyfriend and Naruto's skin. 'He was on his way out and well … he was kinda blunt about what he'd been doing here when I was moving in. Woke Naruto up on the sofa so he could bail.'

Ino's gaze softened and turned a little sheepish. 'You had to sleep in the lounge?' Ino grimaced with sudden realisation as her hand went to her mouth. 'Were we that … I mean was I … oh God. You must have heard every- oh _God_.'

The pretty woman blushed and looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. She was probably recounting just how long she and Kiba had gone at it, and with the loosening of inhibitions due to alcohol, Ino looked like she was going to say something else to Naruto that was going to make this conversation a whole lot more awkward.

Which given how awkward it was already, Naruto didn't know if he could stand it getting _worse_.

Thankfully they were all saved from that as there was another, louder knock on the door, and Naruto all but launched himself from his seat. 'I'll get it!'

Leaving the other three, the mutterings of mortified and consoling tones turning to the quiet throbbing of beyond hearing range noise once the kitchen/living area door was shut, he approached the front door in time for a third knock.

'Alright,' Naruto said to the door, loudly. 'I'm coming, sheesh, we're just hanging out! Chill ou-'

The words died on Naruto's tongue as he pulled open the door to see a guy, a little shorter than him and with muted red hair looking up at him, a purposefully nonplussed expression on his face. Pale green eyes took him in and seemed neither interested nor apprehensive.

'Hello,' he said simply. 'Thank you for getting the door. I was told it was always polite to knock first when you entered an apartment for the first time.'

His voice was measured and calm, but there was something about him that unsettled Naruto. He wasn't intimidated by the guy but well, when you see a dude standing in your front door with a tattoo above his eye that took up a sizeable part of his forehead and black rings around his eyes so dark you'd think they were drawn on … but clearly weren't … you'd pause too.

'You must be one of my roommates,' the man said blankly, holding out his hand to Naruto. 'Pleasure to meet you. Call me Gaara.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Naruto froze as he stared down at the still, serenely silent guy stood in front of him.

Who had not blinked the entire time they had been stood there.

His eyes were intense too. Like, they were just a pale green but good god, it was like the guy was staring through his very soul. Deep down into the core of Naruto Uzumaki and upon finding whatever was there … didn't give much of a shit.

It took everything Naruto had to not actually shiver. His rational brain kicking in and saying, maybe the reason this Gaara looked so unimpressed is because you're a few beers deep and he is most assuredly not.

And maybe Naruto was just making a really bad first impression on this guy who was going to be his roommate for the year along with Ino and Tenten.

Not to mention that the longer they stood here in silence, the ruder Naruto was being by not letting Gaara in. Literally, blocking the red-haired man from his own apartment.

And Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki did _not_ raise rude children.

Well okay, Kurama, but she was their first born and even she had proper etiquette with new people.

Normally.

When she felt like it.

What was he doing again?

'I assume you are Naruto?' Gaara asked, mild curiosity filling the stilted air. Even a sense of uncertainty as the man's eyes darted to the number on the still open front door. 'This is apartment ten isn't it? I'm sorry, have I come at a bad time? My drive from Suna took me longer. You said you were hanging out?'

Oh yeah, he was being a dick to his new roommate by forgetting his manners and spacing out in front of him.

'Yeah!' Naruto said, a little too exuberantly. He took Gaara's still outstretched hand and shook it vigorously. Sending tremors all the way up Gaara's considerably thinner arm so hard that he was worried he might dislocate the slender man's shoulder. 'Sorry, I forget my own strength sometimes. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and it's no problem at all, we just thought you were one of the neighbours being a hypocrite.'

'Ah,' Gaara said reservedly. He looked back down the corridor from where he'd come and then back to Naruto with a puzzled look. 'I don't believe they could hear you even if you were being loud Naruto. I think I passed a party or two as I walked down the hall. Our apartment seems much quieter.'

Naruto shrugged and beckoned the shorter man inside. 'Yeah, they're noisy. Student apartment block though, suppose it's to be expected huh? Sad to say it'll probably get louder as the night goes on. Better music than drum and bass though if you catch my drift.'

Naruto winked and died a little inside as he realised he had just emulated his grandpa's pervy sense of humour to a stranger. Oh god, he hope Gaara didn't take offence, he was really doing a shitty job of being a good roommate.

Gaara however seemed nonplussed as they walked into the apartment proper. 'Yes, I believe I saw a bit of that 'music' being played in the corridor on the ground floor. My brother would be thrilled.'

The words, said by anyone else, would come across as judgemental but from everything Naruto had seen of Gaara, and his way of reacting to things, it was like the guy was just stating facts.

He could deal with that.

'Not surprised, it's been party central more or less every night since I moved in. Have you left your stuff in the car or something? Want me to help bring it up? Tenten, Neji and Ino will probably help too if you'd like?'

The redhead merely shook his head. 'No, thank you though. My father's having someone send my things here tomorrow morning. I have everything I need for the night in my car. I wanted to get moved in as quickly as I could, I've been … excited to get out of Suna for a while …'

Gaara let the sentence fade off, his tone definitely not one of excitement, but there was something hidden under the words that got Naruto thinking that maybe Gaara and his dad didn't get on much. There was a definite note of anger or loathing when he mentioned his dad.

And what was that about arranging to have his stuff moved here after him? Who the hell did that? Was Gaara rich or something? And why wasn't he at Suna University instead of Konoha?

So many questions, too much beer in his system and honestly … he didn't really want to impose on the new guy on his first night. There would be time to learn about Gaara later, if he wanted to tell Naruto anything that was.

'Okay cool, well if you've not got anything you can ask me, I'm sure I can lend you some stuff if you need.' He smiled down at the slightly shorter man and received the slightest of smiles in return.

The small sign of a positive emotion more than a little relieving.

'Thank you Naruto, I will let you know.' Gaara's gaze turned towards the still shut kitchen/living area door, the complete lack of noise coming from the other side implying their conversation was being listened in on intently.

Gaara nodded at the door imperceptibly. 'You mentioned three other people? Am I correct in thinking the two women are our other roommates? Ino and Tenten yes? The information I got from the building management told me there were two women and one man living here too.'

'Uh huh,' Naruto nodded. He then rose his voice so it could be heard through the wall easily. 'That's them, they're totally not eavesdropping in on a conversation instead of coming to say hi themselves!'

A muffled curse, and the clattering of chairs being pushed back by sudden movement came through the wall and Naruto winked at Gaara. He lazily leant against the wall as it was wrenched open and two female faces appeared in the doorway with sheepish smiles.

'Gaara,' Naruto started as the two women organised themselves into less embarrassing positions, meaning Tenten wasn't nearly falling over and you couldn't see right down Ino's cleavage anymore. 'This is Tenten Bushiko and Ino Yamanaka!'

Tenten shook Gaara's hand in a strong grip, not quite as awkwardly as Naruto had he noticed, as Ino waved daintily at him.

'Pleasure to meet you both,' Gaara said with a slight smile. 'I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything. If you could just point out which is my room and I'll-'

'To hell with that!' Tenten said as she pulled the sleep-deprived looking man into the living room and guided him to the sofa. 'You're gonna be our new roommate! And we're having a getting to know each other party, come on!'

Gaara, alarmed at being grabbed so suddenly looked back at Naruto with honest to god panic. 'I mean I don't want to intrude!'

'You're not intruding,' Ino said lightly, linking an arm around his and joining Tenten in strong arming the man down onto the sofa next to a still sitting Neji. 'This is your apartment too.'

'This really isn't necessary,' Gaara said, looking at least a little more at ease now he wasn't being manhandled, but still glancing back at Naruto more than once before he took pity on the clearly shy guy and sat down in the seat next to him.

Neji held out his hand, Gaara shaking it loosely as a beer was pressed into his other hand and the somehow still remaining pizza slices slid in his direction across the table.

'I would advise you just go with it,' Neji said calmly as he sipped at his own beer. 'Tenten can get a little pushy when meeting new people.'

'I do not!' Tenten groused as she flopped down next to her boyfriend and shoved him away. 'I'm just enthusiastic!'

Naruto grinned encouragingly at Gaara, who had already deposited the untouched beer on the table and was eyeing the pizza warily.

Gaara, it would appear, had not forgotten his manners and was waiting for permission to eat. The visual cues clearly not getting through his overwhelmed mind.

'You can have the pizza Gaara,' Ino said gently, after Naruto coughed at her pointedly. She smiled prettily at the last roommate to move in, a warm gesture that seemed to soften the panic still in Gaara's face. 'And sorry for pulling you in like that, if you want to go to your room instead we can do this tomorrow. Did you come far? You must be exhausted.'

Well damn, check Ino out for putting them all to shame with giving Gaara an easy out if he wanted. And being much nicer about it than any of them.

Points for the gorgeous blonde.

Gaara smiled the same slight smile and helped himself to a slice of pizza, eating it with the grace of someone not halfway to drunk. 'Thank you Ino, yes I set off from Suna this morning, it took much longer than I expected.'

'Suna huh?' Tenten asked, turning away from glaring at Neji. 'What brings you to Konoha?'

Gaara's eyes bulged slightly, his lack of eyebrows making what would be a normal looking expression look creepy, but it passed the moment after it arrived. 'I preferred the choices at Konoha University to Suna's, plus it was a chance to see new places. Suna had grown less interesting the longer I stayed there.'

Definitely getting some family drama vibes off the guy now, Naruto nodded understandingly. 'That's cool man, what are you studying?'

'Geology,' Gaara said, his lips turning up at the mention of the subject.

Naruto and Ino shared an amused look. Turns out the guys at the front desk had been talking up more than they knew after all. All for the hope of getting a little more flirting out of Ino. It was kinda pathetic, and really funny.

Gaara ploughed on oblivious to the exchange of glances though. 'I'm hoping to study different terrains and how sand can turn up in different ways around the country. We only really have deserts in Suna, a beach should promise to be quite different. It'll be fascinating.'

Naruto did his best to look like that was as fascinating as Gaara clearly thought it was. It sounded dull as hell but hey, who was he to knock someone else's interests? He liked frogs.

'We could definitely take you to a beach,' Ino said, smiling that pretty smile again. His stomach doing little flips when she turned to look at him. 'Though probably best to go when it's a bit warmer. The summer maybe?'

'That sounds wonderful,' Tenten chirped in. 'A beach party could be really cool!'

Gaara nodded serenely, comfort seeming to seep out of him a bit more, though he was definitely not touching the beer put in front of him. 'That sounds nice yes.'

The conversation moved away from Gaara, the plans for a beach party becoming more and more animated as Tenten and Ino kept adding more and more to it.

Naruto was personally just losing himself in the image of Ino in a bikini. Of many of her apparently attractive friends, that she'd mentioned in her stories about school, in bikinis on a beach. Tanning and possibly playing in the ocean where they could get wet and have to sunbathe to dry off. Though they'd have to apply suntan lotion for that of course.

Which he would happily help them rub into where they couldn't reach and maybe …

He peered at his empty bottle of beer and groaned. Maybe he _really_ needed to get laid. This sort of pervy behaviour was something normally reserved for his grandpa, not him.

Not to mention that the more beer he drank, the more he found himself looking at Ino's fun neckline. Which he was pretty sure she had noticed more than once.

Yes, he needed to do something about this and soon.

But for now, it would probably be a good idea to go to bed. Before Ino got tired of being forgiving of him ogling her breasts.

'Right,' Naruto said, faking a yawn, even putting his hand to his mouth to supposedly cover it up. 'Sorry guys, but I'm beat. I'm gonna try and get some sleep before the parties get too out of hand. Night.'

He was met with goodnights and waves. Gaara even gave him a smile as he tucked into another slice of pizza. He considered whether it was worth a quick cold shower or just going straight to bed as he pulled the door open and walked through with a real yawn this time.

'Hold on Naruto!' Ino called as he went through the door, following him out into the hallway. 'I just wanted to say … Sorry again for keeping you up last night,' Ino said with an apologetic wince, a dusting of a blush colouring her cheeks. 'I didn't realise I was being so loud.'

'It's alright,' Naruto said blushing slightly. 'Not like you knew, I'm sure you had more pressing things on your mind than keeping the noise down.'

'So we're good?' Ino asked, her hand reaching out to touch his arm as she looked him dead in the eye. 'Not mad at me or anything?'

Something passed between them, a bolt of electricity or at least a buzz but he wasn't sure. It was probably just his horny, drunk brain reading things into a sincere and embarrassed apology.

There was a beat where Naruto's eyes dipped to Ino's lips but he shook his head and smiled to disrupt the thought. 'Yeah, we're cool. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Kay,' Ino said with a relieved sigh. 'Sleep well.'

He watched as she went back into the other room, his eyes entranced by the sway of her hips.

Ugh.

He definitely needed to get laid.

* * *

It had been several days since Gaara had moved in. And since the weird possibly missed signal/him reading too into things with Ino that had happened as he'd been heading to bed.

There'd been a couple more instances where he'd caught himself staring at Ino. And he was certain he'd caught her checking him out when she thought he wasn't looking.

And she kept being in tight fitting or revealing clothing whenever he was around. Always with some kind of excuse, like she'd just gotten back from a jog or that she was going out with some of the new friends she'd made.

Then there was the time she'd made a point of downing a whole bottle of water in front of him, the overflow falling down her top and soaking the neckline and down between her considerable breasts.

But she'd never said anything direct to him, so he didn't know what to make of it.

And Naruto, being alone in a part of the city he didn't know, in an apartment with people he had only just met, hadn't known where else to turn for advice. Especially given that even if he had asked Tenten, well he'd only just met her and as much as he liked her, he didn't want to come across like some kind of creeper to a friend he'd just made.

So he made what was probably the worst decision he'd ever made. Even worse than when he'd stolen Kakashi's copy of his grandpa's latest novel as a prank the summer holiday before last.

Kakashi had thrown him out a window into the hotel pool for that one. Thank god he'd not had his phone in his pocket at the time.

Though it got him lots of sympathy off the attractive, and busty, lifeguard who had been all but falling out of her uniform. Her wet uniform. Which had made Tayuya jealous and led to him getting some of the most possessive holiday sex in his life.

So swings and roundabouts he supposed.

But there was no upside to this mistake. This mistake was just fucking stupid and he would be paying for it for weeks. Maybe even months if he was really unlucky.

He'd gone to his sister for advice. Something he'd only ever done once and had vowed to never do it again.

'Sup loser?' Kurama's grinning voice came from his phone as he picked up the call. The image of his sister in a tank top, baseball cap and shades flipping him off disappearing as he answered. 'Fucked the hot blonde yet?'

Naruto groaned as he covered the phone speaker, looking at the wall and then his shut door to make sure no one was there.

'I thought women were meant to be more demure when talking about things like that?' Naruto hissed down the phone.

'Yeah,' Kurama said lazily, drawling the words in utter sarcastic disdain. 'Cus us girls are all sugar and spice and definitely never scream our lungs out when we're banging.'

He ran a hand down his face and was thankful his sister couldn't see his blush. Cus he knew what was coming.

'Y'know, like when Tayuya used to scream about how good your dick felt in her. When I was trying to nap and you thought the house was empty.' Kurama's tone still held the annoyance that apparently a solid three years of her teasing couldn't dissipate.

'We apologised for that,' Naruto muttered, heat aching in his cheeks. 'Millions of times.'

'No,' Kurama said. 'You did. Tayuya told me to fuck off and that I was just jealous I wasn't getting … how did she refer to your teenage fumbling again?'

'Getting dicked good,' Naruto mumbled out. 'Seriously Rama, it only happened a couple times, when are you gonna get over it?'

'Couple times a month,' Kurama corrected him with an amused sigh. 'Oh fine, not like I'm gonna have to hear it again. Even if you two do hook up, you've got your own place for your debauchery. My sleep will go unmolested. Unlike you.'

Naruto rolled his eyes and span in his desk chair so his back was facing the window. 'So why did you call again? Something up?'

Because now that Kurama was apparently done mocking him for his ex's lack of manners, he wanted to skate past any follow up teasing she had left over. Like about Ino. And his apparent obliviousness.

'Nice try kid,' Kurama said with a snort. 'Have you made your move on the hot blonde yet or not?'

'How do you know she's hot?' Naruto asked, doing his best to divert attention that he had not made his move. Wasn't gonna either most likely. Cus despite his horndog sister's insistence, she wasn't into him. She'd have said something.

His sister scoffed. 'Facebook and Instagram exist moron. Not that many Ino Yamanaka's who go to Konoha University. And who take photos of my brother walking around his apartment without his shirt on and then post them with suggestive tags as a 'prank'. Fuck her already or I'm gonna lose my mind.'

He blushed some more at that and grumbled something about Kurama reading too much into a joke between friends.

'The latest one where your stupid ass is mid-taking his shirt off is captioned 'Yum' with winky faces,' Kurama all but growled at him. 'Fuck. Her.'

'But …'

'Naruto,' Kurama cut him off. Her voice cold and promising pain. 'If I have to see more pictures of this girl thirsting after you after this 'roommates' night out' tonight, I am going to come to your dorm and beat shit out of you. Understood?'

He shivered at the threat. Because damn it all, she would. And that would be more embarrassing than making a move on Ino and getting shot down. Because Kurama wouldn't do it fair and square, she would outright humiliate him by making him do the stupidest looking pratfalls she could.

Like she did when Naruto had been showing off for a cute blonde on one of their family vacations to Whirlpool. She'd then spent the rest of the trip making out with said cute blonde every chance she got.

Frankly, Naruto should be glad his sister wasn't threatening to come and seduce Ino really. It would be so much worse to hear Ino moaning because his _sister_ was making it happen.

'Naruto …'

'Okay!' Naruto said quickly. 'God has Matatabi not been putting out lately or something?'

Kurama snorted down the phone. 'You really wanna hear about your sister's sex life you little pervert?'

'How am I the pervert the way you're checking up on my hot roommate?' Naruto groused as he span idly in his chair, keeping a foot on the floor as he pouted.

'Cus Matatabi is my girlfriend and our Facebook and Instagram posts are wholesome and lovey-dovey. Not thirst driven soft core porn of my baby brother.'

Naruto had to give her that. They most assuredly were a wholesome and endearing couple. God only knew how Matatabi managed to trick his sister into being presentable. Naruto would love to learn the trick but he was actually kinda scared to ask.

Also, their online profiles were quite heart-warming. It was lovely to see his turbulent sister happy. But that didn't mean he had to like her messing with him.

'Now,' Kurama said, the smirk coating her words. 'Do as big sister says, and bang the thirsty bitch's brains out, m'kay?'

Before Naruto could retort, the phone clicked and Kurama had ended the call. Getting the last word in as always.

She could be such a pain in the ass.

Every single conversation with his sister, for the past couple days had been in some way related to Ino. He definitely was never going to his sister for advice on women ever again, even if he and Ino did hook up, he was never going to hear the end of this from Kurama and he didn't need her gloating about this and making thinly veiled references to getting him laid over Christmas dinner.

His grandpa's approval would be mortifying and his grandma and mother's questions would only serve to humiliate him further. All the while his sister and her girlfriend would be grinning at him from across the table with shit eating grins.

Because he knew Matatabi knew about this whole predicament as well by now. She'd sent him a couple texts apologising for Kurama's actions. Though she'd still made fun of him a little for being so oblivious.

It wasn't his fault women didn't just outright state they were interested in you for god's sake! What was he meant to be? Some kind of mind reader?

Naruto growled into the air, throwing his head back as he reclined into his desk chair.

His phone chirruped, the vibration running through his hand, and the screen lit up.

 _Looking forward to tonight's night out! X_

Ino's message into the group chat. Followed by the quick responses of Tenten and surprisingly Gaara.

The unnerving guy he'd met just couple days ago had proven to be just sort of formal out of shyness. He was still quiet, they only knew he was in the apartment when he appeared behind you out of nowhere and sent your drink flying from your hand with a simple 'Hello'.

Not that thing had happened exactly. Nearly every time Naruto was about to drink some water. Making him drop his drink and spray water all over the poor person in front of him.

Neji had looked murderous when it had been his turn to get an impromptu spit shower.

Naruto had had to put everything into resisting laughing in the poor guy's face.

It hadn't worked.

But other than that, Gaara was pretty cool. And surprisingly friendly. He was always offering to do the dishes for other people or go to the shops.

Naruto got the impression the guy hadn't had many friends before, if any. Because the only people who he spoke about were his brother Kankuro and sister Temari. They were actually pretty cool, Naruto and Tenten had met them the day after Gaara arrived.

They'd been the one's moving his stuff. Apparently their father had forgotten to send someone with Gaara's things and they'd had to rush to pack it all up and bring it to Konoha.

Once all of his stuff had been moved in, Gaara and his siblings went out to sightsee and Gaara had looked like he wanted to invite Naruto along as well, but Kankuro gave Naruto a warning glare and Naruto took the hint.

They wanted to check in on their brother and spend some time just the three of them. He could respect that. Besides, he could always show Gaara around some places later on. It'd be fun taking a visitor around his home city.

Naruto and Gaara had actually spent a good bit of time hanging out over the last couple days. They'd been relaxing in the living room when Ino's water mishap had happened. Before that … distracting event though … they'd just played some video games on Gaara's console he brought from home and talked about home and families.

His father would come up very occasionally. Which normally led to Naruto getting his ass soundly handed to him in whatever game they were playing, and to Gaara's eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

So he didn't ask about that at all.

But one thing that had come up that had led to a lot of discussion between the two of them. Gaara had the _darkest_ sense of humour and was remarkable sarcastic once he was comfortable with you.

It'd taken a couple of days for the first sarcastic comment to come but after that … well Naruto was already planning on hanging out with Gaara more.

Naruto smiled at the enthusiastically polite message Gaara had sent, and snorted at the funny gif of a dog giving a thumbs up that Tenten sent and typed out his own quick reply.

Rising from the chair, a brief glance at his phone he chewed his lip, staring at the wall between his and Ino's room. The sound of pop music coming through the thin wall.

He could envision the hot blonde dancing to the music in her room, not a care in the world and it made him smile. His sister's crude advice aside, it'd be great to be with Ino, she was fun, hot and really nice.

Maybe he should just take a chance tonight. It couldn't hurt could it?

Checking the time, Naruto nodded. He had a couple hours to get ready before they went out. That gave him enough time to shower, eat and get dressed to impress a certain bouncy blonde roommate.

The music still blaring from Ino's room, Naruto nodded with certainty as he started towards the en-suite bathroom.

Tonight the music coming from Ino's room would be of their own making.

He'd apologise to Gaara and Tenten in the morning.

* * *

Naruto wasn't one for self-congratulation.

Like, he knew he was a good person, and that he was talented in a few ways but one of the lessons his dad had instilled in him the hardest was the virtues of humility.

 _No one likes an arrogant asshole calling himself the greatest ever Naruto. There's always someone better. Remember that._

And while he hadn't really started to learn the real truth of what his dad was trying to teach him, until he got his ass kicked in his first go at his black belt when he was fourteen, he had to agree with him now.

Obito-sensei had kicked his ass so hard he hadn't had the nerve to take on the black belt test again for another year. Which allowed him to learn some serious lessons about himself that led him to the much more easy-going, not boastful guy he was now.

It had led him to taking his classes more seriously, his grades improving greatly, and as he rebuilt his confidence it had even given him the nerve to make the first move with Tayuya. Who had actually said if he'd tried when he was still the arrogant little shit he'd been when they were in middle school, she'd have shot him down hard.

Good lesson, hard learned and it reaped many benefits.

So yeah, self-congratulation was not his thing.

But when Ino had looked at him when he'd come out of his room dressed for the night … and literally froze mid-word, well he'd be a liar if that hadn't felt damn good.

As his sister would say, never doubt the attractiveness of an Uzumaki dressed to impress. Especially when they were wearing black.

It didn't matter what it was, a black button up shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans, the green gemstone necklace his grandmother had given him a few birthdays ago hanging from his neck under his shirt, or a tuxedo with all the finer touches. An Uzumaki looked good in black.

He'd decided against the tuxedo though, and settled for the first option. He didn't want to be struggling to get out of far too many clothes tonight after all.

He'd been the last one to come out, to much teasing from Tenten and Ino. Though it didn't really hide the fact that Ino's eyes never really wavered from his lips and neck. Kurama's suggestion to leave the top two buttons of his shirt open was definitely the right call.

Then, after Tenten had teased him a bit more, Ino had flirtatiously asked him what he thought about her truly jaw-dropping dress, seriously he wasn't sure how anyone was supposed to _not_ stare down the plunging neckline, and a quick elbow in Ino's ribs from Tenten, the four of them had left the apartment and gone into the night.

Shushu-ya was a student bar near the university library. It had a mostly student clientele and the prices were set at a reasonable rate for poor students who were looking to get blitzed.

It was also right next to a lot of the administration for student help, a counsellor's office, space for clubs to hold meetings and rooms for students who wanted to conduct group work. A convenience shop sat between the rest of the building and the bar entrance, normally manned by a tired and bored looking student.

There was even a cafeteria set up for people who couldn't afford to eat out and also couldn't cook worth a damn.

But the bar itself was where most of the action was. Multiple events went on, quiz nights and theme nights, pool tables and darts boards sat at the back with a small raised stage at the front where open mic nights could be held. As well as karaoke.

The dark wood of the room's ceiling gave the bar a sense of warmth and hidden away ness that appealed to students, letting them get a steady buzz on before heading into the city proper for the clubs.

Naruto loved it immediately. He'd no sooner stepped foot in the place than he'd grinned and nodded his approval.

The four of them stood briefly in the doorway, looking for a free table, which Tenten spotted and made a sudden beeline for.

'Come on!' Tenten shouted, as she threw her bag down onto the seat, the epitome of a martial artist even in a Chinese style blouse and long skirt. Direct and moving without hesitation. He hoped she was always with him when they were in a busy bar and they wanted a table.

'Guess I'll get the drinks,' Naruto said with a chuckle. He turned to Ino. 'Glass of wine?'

'You're a sweetheart,' Ino said as her fingers lingered on her arm before winking at him. 'White please, I'll pay you back later.'

'You can just get the next lot,' Naruto said with a smile. Though he didn't miss her rolling her eyes good-naturedly at him before she made her way over to join Tenten. The deep purple dress looking just as good from behind as it did from the front.

'You're staring at her,' Gaara said without inflection. 'Are you going to stare at my ass too when I walk away?'

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the shorter man and snorted. 'So, how long until you're gonna mention you're a sarcastic little bastard to the girls?'

Gaara stared at him blankly, the slightest hint of a smirk hiding behind his eyes. 'When I feel like it?'

Naruto sighed and made an exaggerated roll of his eyes. 'Beer?'

'Please.' Gaara didn't say another word and walked over to the girls, the conversation between the three of them sparking as Gaara chipped in every now and then.

He shook his head amusedly. He really did wonder why Gaara was putting on the charade of being so polite, his dark sense of humour was a riot and from Naruto knew of Tenten and Ino … they'd find him hilarious too.

Maybe he was just shy around girls and wasn't confident enough to be himself with them? Or hours of video games bonded them. That could be it.

Naruto shrugged and headed to the back wall where the bar was. Eyeing the black haired barman with weirdly spiked up hair at the back, looked kinda like a duck's ass really, he was about to ask for his drinks when he spotted the back of a pink haired girl's head directly in front of him.

She was leant against the bar chatting with him animatedly. Probably placing her own drink order and flirting with the guy, something he didn't seem to mind going by the slightest smile on his face.

Looking around the bar for someone else, Naruto didn't have to wait long as an older woman with a low cut top that almost demanded you stare at her cleavage bounced from around the corner of the bar.

'What can I get you gorgeous?' She asked him in a bubbly voice and Naruto smiled reflexively.

'Two pints of whatever beer's good please and a bottle of white wine with two glasses please,' Naruto said.

'Coming up,' the bubbly woman said back. 'You one of the new students this year huh? Not seen you before.'

He nodded and watched as she pulled out two tall pint glasses and placed them by the taps on the bar. 'Yup, starting classes next week.'

'Oh? What are you going to study?' she asked as she placed the two pints of beer in front of him and bent down to pull out the bottle of wine. 'I might be able to warn you-'

'Hey pinkie,' a brash and deliberately low voice drawled from behind Naruto, interrupting his chat with the barmaid. 'You got a nice ass.'

Hairs went up on Naruto's neck as he noticed the barmaid serving him lose her smile, her blue eyes leaving Naruto's face as she frowned at the asshole behind him.

The heavy step of his feet unmistakeably headed towards the pink haired girl still leaning against the bar.

'Pinkie,' the brash dude said again, an edge to his voice. 'I'm talking to you!'

The barmaid hurried through the rest of Naruto's order, taking his money quickly and giving him his change just as quickly. Giving him an apologetic smile, her expression turned to stone as she went to go around the bar to confront the sexist pig in their midst.

Said sexist pig stood at about six and a half foot tall, weighed a solid two hundred pounds and was built like a line-backer. His face was average enough and his short, stabby haircut was as brown as his beady eyes.

Which hadn't left the pink haired girl's ass the entire time he'd been stomping towards her.

'I'm paying you a compliment you stuck up bitch,' the prick snarled, standing close enough to the noticeably smaller girl that he was all but towering over her. 'You should look at me when I do. Or are you just one of those bitches with a hot body and an ugly face.'

The woman, who must have been able to hear him, didn't react though, she kept talking to the guy behind the bar. The barman's black eyes flashing with utter malice towards the drunk guy everyone but the pink haired woman was paying attention to.

Naruto clenched his fist as he glared daggers into the bastard's head and breathed steadily. He couldn't kill the prick, he was harassing an innocent woman true, but if he literally snapped the guy in half like he knew he could … his parents would be giving him hell in a police holding cell.

Again.

So he was about to reach over to the guy, grab his shoulder and direct him away from the bar when said lumbering asshole crossed a line.

'Maybe I need to be more direct with you,' the oaf snarled, his meaty hand reaching out to the woman's ass, his large fingers smacking her right across both cheeks so the woman was bodily moved an inch at the contact.

The area around the bar went deathly silent. The pink haired woman stilled and her harasser stood there smirking like an idiot. You could hear a pin drop and Naruto felt blood pump in his ears at a million miles an hour.

'Okay dic-' Naruto started, his drinks left on the bar and caution blown to the wind, as he took a dangerous step towards the would-be molester.

But he never got to finish his insult as the pink haired woman spun in place, her face torn into a furious snarl, her fist pulled back and then pushed almost _through_ the dickhead's chin as he was lifted off his feet and landed heavily on the wooden floor of the bar.

Unfortunately taking Naruto with him as he was sent spiralling onto the floor a little way behind the knocked out pervert.

Naruto hit the floor hard, grunting as he lay on the ground.

'Oh my God!' The pink haired woman said quickly, once her furious glare had left the out cold man still lain on the ground. A little bit of blood pouring from his nose. 'I'm so sorry are you okay?'

The blond grinned at her, staring into her dazzling green eyes that swam with concern and guilt as she looked down at him. Her pink hair pulled away from her forehead and her lips in a worried frown.

'That was amazing,' he said emphatically. 'You laid that dickhead out with one punch. I'll be daydreaming about that for weeks!'

The beautiful woman, who helped him back up onto his feet, her hands going under his elbow and at his shoulder, blushed at the praise and smiled at him.

'Thanks, I hate guys like that.' She looked at his face, studying him carefully. 'You sure you're alright? I didn't really see you until you were on the floor. Did you hit your head?'

He shook his head, still grinning at her. 'No, I'm good.'

Though wobbling on his feet didn't convince the pink haired girl as she helped him back to the bar. 'If you're sure, I'm still sorry I knocked you over.'

'By knocking out a prick grabbing at your ass,' Naruto said with conviction. 'I can take a bump to the floor. I'm Naruto by the way.'

He held out his hand and the woman took it, her fingers warm to the touch and when the quick handshake was over Naruto found himself wishing her soft fingers were still there. 'Sakura, Sakura Haruno.'

'Nice to meet you Sakura.'

Sakura smiled at him, her eyes running over him still, looking for injuries probably but Naruto didn't try to reassure her he was fine again.

Because now he was stood up, he could look at her properly. And she was just as beautiful as she had looked standing over her downed assaulter.

Her hair fell to just about the small of her back, a loose fitting cherry red tank top showed off the toned muscles in the arms of someone who'd done sport for most of her life. The top also did nothing to hide the curves Sakura had clearly been graced with. Her black jeans hugged at her hips as well and while not wanting to agree with the pervert who was slowly being roused and led out of the bar by the two bar staff, the whole outfit proved that Sakura was _definitely_ hot.

But thankfully for him, and his wish to not also get knocked out, his eyes kept coming back to hers.

They were absolutely captivating and he could barely keep himself from staring at her. The longer he looked at her though, the more he felt his face heat and his stomach do flip flops.

'Nice to meet you too,' she said with a smile. 'Can I at least help you with your drinks?'

He wanted to say yes immediately, just as an excuse to spend more time with her. But then she might put the drinks down and leave and he wouldn't get to talk to her anymore. And he didn't want that. He needed to know who Sakura Haruno was, and damn it all he was gonna make sure he did.

'Okay,' Naruto said, his stomach fluttering a little at the relieved smile she gave him. 'But only if you let me buy you a drink?'

Sakura paused, one eyebrow raised as she looked at him with an amused half-smile. 'You did see what I did to the last man who made an uninvited pass at me right?'

He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. 'I'm an idiot. But a brave idiot?'

She laughed, her eyes dancing as she looked him up and down once again. This time with much less innocent concern. She made a motion with her lips like she was considering saying no but then smiled warmly and shook her head.

'Okay, one drink. We'll see what brave idiots who step in on ass grabbing perverts are like.'

'You saw that?' Naruto blushed himself scarlet and rubbed at his neck. 'Guess I wasn't needed though huh?

Sakura gave him an approving look, and waved over the barman she was talking to before. 'Sasuke? I'll have the same again please.'

Sasuke gave Naruto a wary look and then nodded, putting together a quick cocktail and passing it over to Sakura. His dark eyes going back to Naruto and staying there for a solid couple seconds before going back to Sakura. 'Does this mean I get to work the rest of my shift without you bothering me?'

He smirked at Sakura's blush as she waved a hand at him dismissively.

'It's just a drink,' she said, a little defensive. 'Right Naruto?'

The blond nodded, taking the measure of Sasuke, who was looking between the two of them with something like caution and suspicion.

Not a boyfriend then, good. He hadn't wanted to step on anyone's toes, just buy a pretty girl a drink.

Possibly get her number, or add her on Facebook.

'Totally,' Naruto said with a nod and a winning smile.

'Uh huh,' Sasuke said as he turned away from them and set about wiping down the bar. 'See you at home later then. Maybe tomorrow.'

Sakura pulled Naruto away, a blush burning on her face as she returned to grab the drinks she could and they made their way through the hubbub of the growing number of students entering the bar.

'Smartass Uchiha,' Sakura grumbled. 'Sorry about that Naruto, Sasuke's a bit of an asshole.'

Naruto shrugged and let the comfortable warmth of her presence wash over him. 'No worries Sakura, he's your roommate?'

'Yeah,' Sakura said in passing. 'Where were you sitting?'

He bit his lip. He really wished he didn't have to go back to their table now. He really just wanted to hang out with Sakura and get to know her.

But he was holding drinks for other people and Sakura didn't seem the type who'd be comfortable with him saying screw it.

So he gestured over to the vague location of his friends' table and let Sakura plough on into the crowd as he followed her, making a point to _not_ stare at her ass as she walked away.

…

Much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

The bar had filled up more during the short amount of time Naruto had been ordering drinks and rather skilfully convincing Sakura to come have a drink with him.

The fact that that drink would require her to be around his new friends, two of whom being women and the third being a sarcastic man hiding behind a shy exterior had probably taken some points away from his suaveness but hey, she'd still come over for a drink.

And in the throng of people that surrounded the entrance to the bar, and the route to his friends' table, he got to be nice and close behind Sakura so that he could smell the delicious cherry blossom shampoo that she used.

It smelt heavenly.

Thankfully, or unfortunately depending on what was more important to you, they didn't have to go through the crowd for long. Tenten had stood up to look for Naruto and spotted him amongst the sea of people. She waved at him and Sakura looked back over her shoulder at him for confirmation.

'That's Tenten, she's one of the glasses of wine.' Naruto leant down, his lips close to her ear. He couldn't be sure but he thought he saw a little shiver run through Sakura as she smiled at him.

'Cool,' she said back, her face turning to his so he definitely heard her. 'They gonna be okay with me joining you guys?'

There was a flash of something in Sakura's green eyes, concern or uncertainty he wasn't sure but he just gave her his biggest smile.

'It'll be fine, I'll introduce you. Tenten's gonna wanna hear all about you knocking that guy out.' Their eyes met and Sakura mirrored his smile as someone nudged into Naruto's back, his drink laden hand knocking forward to nudge into Sakura's back, the back of his fingers brushing the bare skin below her neck. Making Naruto's face go bright red as he subconsciously acknowledged that Sakura's skin was quite soft to the touch. 'Sorry!'

Sakura's cheeks pinked ever so slightly but she just shook her head. 'It's okay, accidents happen. Let's just get sat down before someone makes us spill these.'

Laughing, the pair made the rest of the way to the table quickly, a chorus of hellos and cheers for the drinks meeting them as they arrived.

'Hold on,' Naruto said, passing his beer to Sakura to hold, her hands now empty of wine and glasses, and pulled up a spare chair for the pinkette from one of the nearby tables. 'Guys, this is Sakura. Sakura, this is Ino, Tenten and Gaara.'

'Hiya,' Tenten said with an open smile, a little mischief in her eyes as she glanced at Ino, who was giving Sakura a long look in turn. 'Nice to meet you.'

'Same!' Sakura said as she perched down on the chair Naruto was pushing towards the table. She passed him the beer she was holding with a smile of thanks for Naruto. 'I hope you don't mind, Naruto invited me to join you guys … I kinda knocked him over at the bar.'

'Did he now?' Ino asked. Her blue eyes narrowing on Naruto briefly and then the gap between Naruto and Sakura's chairs for some reason. 'How'd you knock him over? And how did that lead to him inviting you over here?'

Tenten's eyes went wide in warning as she glanced over at Gaara. The eyebrowless man seemed nonplussed but for the slightest turning up of his lip.

Bastard.

'Some dickhead smacked her ass and she lay him out for it.' Naruto grinned as Sakura blushed good-naturedly. 'I was just the moron stood behind him when he fell, it was an accident.'

'Uh huh,' Ino said slowly, her gaze turning to him. 'Are you okay Naruto? You didn't get hurt did you?'

The concern was sweet, genuinely it was nice and he patted her hand when Ino reached out over the table to squeeze his arm. He smiled at her and chuckled lightly.

'He's fine,' Tenten said dismissively, holding out her hand for Sakura to high-five. 'Idiot just got in the way of a well-deserved ass kicking. Good on you Sakura, hope you knocked his teeth out.'

Sakura smacked her hand against Tenten's with a cheeky smile and nudged Naruto in the ribs with her other elbow. 'Thank you, Naruto said you'd approve.'

Gaara snorted and gave Naruto a long look. 'Guessing the large gentleman being dragged out a couple minutes ago was said dickhead?'

Naruto and Sakura nodded with a shared grin.

'Well cheers to you Sakura-san,' Gaara said as he lifted his glass to be clinked. His intense gaze fixed on the baffled looking pinkette.

Looking to Naruto for encouragement, Sakura clinked her cocktail glass against Gaara's. 'Uh, thanks. But anyway I don't wanna impose, I just felt bad for knocking Naruto over, I'll go once I've had my drink and leave you to it.' Her eyes settling on Ino, a little bit of a frown pulling at her beautiful face as the two women watched each other.

Naruto's brain flew into panic and he began to protest. 'Sakura you don't hav-'

'We were sort of in the middle of a roommates' night out,' Ino interrupted him with a meaningful look at him. 'I'm sure we can add you on Facebook or something and go out again if you'd like. But this is more meant to be just an 'us' thing.'

The pinkette frowned harder, glaring at Ino's rude remark and Naruto couldn't blame her to be honest.

Because seriously, what the hell was her problem with Sakura? She was awesome! Sure this was meant to be their thing but it wouldn't be the end of the world if Sakura joined them as far as he was concerned.

'Right,' Sakura said in a measured tone. She went to stand and turned to Naruto with an expression Naruto couldn't read but knew he didn't like all that much. 'Maybe we'll do this some other time? When I'm not intruding.'

Tenten scoffed and rolled her eyes. 'Ignore Ino,' she said simply. 'You wanna stay and drink with us, you can stay. I wanna hear more about this punch. What about you Gaara?'

'It's not a problem with me,' he said with a shrug.

Tenten nodded happily, giving Naruto a surreptitious wink that he prayed no one else saw. 'Then it's settled, you stay Sakura.'

Ino scowled at Tenten and crossed her arms under her chest. She fixed Sakura with a glare that could have melted steel.

The pinkette didn't back down, glaring back at Ino as she stood in place. 'If you're sure.'

'Course we're sure,' Tenten said with finality, leaning back in her chair and sipping at her nearly empty glass of wine. 'Right Naruto?' she asked over the rim of her glass.

Naruto beamed at Tenten and nodded. He perched up on his chair to face Sakura. 'Definitely.'

Uncertainty filled Sakura's expression, her gaze flitting from each of them before she stopped hovering and sat down in the chair next to Naruto again. 'Alright.'

'Spectacular,' Tenten said, plucking the wine bottle from the table and pouring out another glass for herself and topping up Ino's glass with a pointed cough at the pouting blonde. 'So, what were you saying about that time you broke into your parents' liquor cabinet Ino?'

The blonde, a rueful frown shot at Naruto and Sakura, seemed like she didn't want to tell the story. The way she was looking at Sakura was like someone had come along and kicked over her sandcastle.

But she glanced at Tenten, who still hadn't looked away from her and appeared to be waiting with the utmost of patience. Ino sighed and let her eyes run over Naruto one last time.

She appeared to make a mental decision and with another measured look at the space between Naruto and Sakura, a dazzling smile replaced the frown and she leant just a little closer to the table and rested up on the wooden surface with her elbows.

'Well it was over a family Christmas when me and my friends Shikamaru and Chouji were bored …'

But Naruto wasn't really listening anymore. He was just relieved that the apparent tension that even he'd been able to feel floating over the table was easing the longer Ino was talking.

He hoped that whole thing hadn't made Sakura regret coming over with him. He didn't want her to think he was dragging her into some kind of weird thing. Honestly, he didn't want her to think that his invitation was anything more than that.

Yeah, he very much wished they were alone instead of with his friends, but if this could just be the first night out of many that Sakura spent with them that'd be great. Just let her keep being around long enough for them to sort out a just them night in the very near future.

Then he wouldn't mind this night being a group night out at all.

As long as she didn't write him off as drama because Ino had been unexpectedly rude to her. That'd … well that would just flat out suck balls.

Sakura caught his eye and smiled with half of her mouth, as if she could read his mind and the smile grew so it used her entire mouth, white teeth and all.

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach and a little lower too if he was brutally honest, but the way Sakura was looking at him told him he might just be with a chance with salvaging this mess.

He leaned back in his chair, relief spreading across his mind like poured water over a flat surface. Noticing to his immense delight that Sakura seemed to be leaning just a little closer to him than before as Ino's story continued.

'… I swear if we hadn't managed to find a replacement for the bottle we'd stolen, my dad would have banned the boys from the house even longer!'

* * *

It really surprised Naruto how quickly the temperature could drop when the sun went down.

You could have the pleasant warm of an early September, August's weather not yet ready to give up its hold on the year, all day long but the after the sun had been down even an hour, autumn decided it was taking control in a chilly grasp.

But when you'd spent the last few hours huddled in a boiling bar filled to the brim with people, a bit of cold wasn't a bad thing.

He took in some deep breaths as the autumn night filled his lungs and soothed his skin, waving as Gaara strolled down the small set of steps that led to the building. A cigarette already between the auburn haired man's lips.

'Want one?' Gaara offered through clenched lips. A lighter flicked to life, singeing orange down the white fabric with his first inhale. 'Or you keeping your mouth clear for our new friend?'

'Gaara!' Naruto hissed, his eyes glancing desperately back at the reception area behind the doors. 'The girls will be right out!'

The other man snorted and plucked the cigarette from his lips. 'Not my fault you've changed targets midway through. Blonde to pink, you sure like bright colours don't you?'

'Eat me,' Naruto snapped back eloquently. 'You don't see me actively trying to sabotage your love life do you?'

Gaara's left eye moved, him raising an eyebrow Naruto thought, and snorted again. 'It helps that I don't have one for you to fuck up, but fine. Just warning you, if I noticed I suspect the two women in question did too. Be careful.'

A very witty retort died on Naruto's lips as Tenten came out of the door with a knowing grin. 'Sup boys, having a fun conversation about wandering eyes and awkward first impressions?'

Gaara grinned while Naruto groaned, an offered cigarette being plucked from Gaara's fingers as Tenten took her own with a knowing grin.

'Not you too,' Naruto sighed. 'Come on Tenten, I thought you were cool.'

'Don't be such a baby, I saved your ass in there didn't I?' The young woman laughed, sharing an amused look with Gaara. 'Besides _we_ don't want our night out ruined because you decided to stop the cat and mouse crap with Ino you've been playing. I approve by the way, we're all too old for that shit.'

Gaara hummed his agreement and cast an eye back into the lobby. 'Where are Naruto's prospective fellow noisemakers by the way?'

He was gonna smack Gaara, he really was. Who the hell talked that way about people? And how was he supposed to know this how thing would have gotten so complicated? He'd only asked a pretty girl if she wanted to get a drink.

'Ino's peeing,' Tenten said. Naruto left entirely ignored as the two carried on their conversation. 'Sakura was telling her friend she was coming with us. They should be out soon, you're welcome by the way. Dumbass.'

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the derisive look Tenten was shooting him.

Why did he seem to be surrounded by women who liked to give him a hard time? His family was full of them, his ex had been possibly worse for it, and now even his roommate?

Life was cruel and he was not pleased with it at all.

'What am I thankful for exactly?' Naruto asked, straining his eyes to look into the building.

'Well let's skip the obvious one of getting Ino to start talking again,' Tenten said, leaning a shoulder against a smirking Gaara. 'And go instead with keeping her involved in conversation so you and Sakura could eye-fuck as subtly as two teenagers just figuring out what horny is.'

'We were not!' Naruto growled. Because they weren't! The fact that Sakura and him kept catching each other's eyes was entirely because they were sat next to each other and talking about random stuff. Having to get closer and closer the noisier the bar got.

Hell, they were having a particularly nice conversation about … something … some TV show he thought that they'd both watched as kids and was having some kind of a retro comeback. And then Tenten had suggested they moved on to a club and it had been met with immediate agreement by the other two.

Naruto hadn't even noticed hours had passed until he'd looked at his phone.

'And don't forget you had to get Ino to stop glaring daggers at Sakura by pointing out she couldn't act like she owned him,' Gaara chipped in. His tone neutral but dark amusement shining in his eyes. The prick. 'Especially given … what was the guy's name you met who she kept Naruto awake all night with?'

'Kiba,' Naruto interrupted. 'And I really think you guys are reading way too into Ino and me. Maybe she genuinely was just annoyed I'd brought Sakura over on what was meant to be our apartment night out?'

That earned him the mother of all 'are you serious?' looks from his friends who promptly ignored him otherwise.

'Honestly,' Gaara said passively. He took a long drag on his cigarette and sighed his satisfaction. 'I think, if he gets laid tonight he owes you massively. Regardless of who he winds up in bed with.'

Naruto raked his fingers down over his face and swallowed a yell. 'Would you two get your minds out of the gutter please?'

The door opened just at that moment, because the universe hated him apparently, and both Ino and Sakura walked out with matching quizzical expressions.

'Whose mind is in the gutter?' Ino asked looking around the group confusedly. Her eyes resting on him longer than the others.

Sakura hadn't stopped looking at him though and she was swallowing a smile as she all but skipped down the steps and came to stop at his side. Ino picked up on Sakura's path just as Sakura made her way to him and went to stand on his other side.

Which would lead to Naruto being directly in the middle of the same tension as in the bar and he really, _really_ didn't want that to happen. He didn't want to upset Ino by ignoring her but Sakura was right there and he definitely didn't want to drive her away because he spent all night talking to another girl.

He was still relieved she was coming out with them to the next place. Half the reason they'd stayed in this bar at all was to prolong the inevitable.

Awkward situations where he was being pulled either way was only going to make it more likely Sakura would just walk away and that'd be it.

Gaara came to his rescue by falling into step next to him. The auburn haired man nodded in the general direction of Konoha city centre. Where the majority of the nightclubs and bars that would be open late into the night were.

'If we hurry I think we should make it before the clubs start charging ludicrous prices just to get through the door. If they're anything like the ones in Suna that is.' Gaara nudged Naruto hard in the side. Hard enough that Naruto made a little yelp of pain that he managed to turn into a cough. 'Shall we get moving?'

Gaara smiled, it was not a pleasant thing. Not that Gaara smiling was always horrifying unnatural, but he was smiling big and continually pushing Naruto along by jabbing him in the side.

'Um, yeah sure. You still up for coming out to a club with us Sakura-chan?' Naruto asked, head whipping to face the rose haired woman who was still walking next to him.

She nodded, her mouth flickering at her name and she smiled at him, and then back at Tenten and Ino who were walking behind them. 'Sure, sounds fun.'

Naruto didn't miss the frown Ino was firing at the back of Sakura's head but if either woman realised they didn't say anything.

Why did he get the feeling this night wasn't going to go as smoothly as he'd initially hoped?

Sakura's arm wrapped around his as they walked and suddenly, he didn't care how the night went as long as Sakura was still there.

They entered a nightclub called Rasengan after a much shorter walk where the group had chatted idly, sarcastic jokes falling from Gaara's mouth like water from a burst hydrant even in the queue in front of the nightclub.

The throbbing sensation of dance music thrummed through the air as the bouncers let them past the door with a quick show of I.D. and Naruto and Sakura joined the queue to pay for entrance.

They handed in their coats and bags just after the back of their hands were stamped with a little stylised leaf and Sakura started up the steps ahead of him. The vantage on her walking up in front of him drawing his eyes to her ass.

Sakura turned around to see if he was coming and caught him. Which was when she gave him a knowing and expectant expression that gave him an insight to the kinds of hopes for the night that she had.

More than a couple making him a little hot under the collar. And lower too.

She came back down the steps and grabbed him by the hand, pulling him up the stairs. Her palm touched his and Naruto forgot his friends were still downstairs paying to get in.

He forgot everything but the sound of music and the warm feeling of a beautiful woman's hand in his. His wandering eyes following the way her hips moved as she made her way up the stairs.

* * *

Liquid courage had been fuelling him pretty much since his second drink.

Adding a couple shots of what he thought was vodka while they'd been here … Naruto was running on the dangerous power of confidence that got rid of all insecurities and lit a goddamn fire in his loins.

Sakura had pulled him out onto the dancefloor immediately and after each shot. Words appeared to be pointless at this point. Whether because they were so clearly thinking the same thing as the music blared and their bodies moved in a slow sinuous flow or because the music was so loud he probably couldn't have heard the gorgeous pinkette if she was screaming in his ear.

The messages she was sending with her hands roving his chest and arms as they ground together told him everything he needed to know anyway. The way she moved with his touch, his fingers glided over her sides during the last song down to her hips, the shiver of excitement that had followed when his fingertips found the slither of warm, soft flesh between her top and jeans only adding to his confidence and desire.

Naruto had lost track of how many songs they'd been dancing to and when he'd last been anywhere but in Sakura's arms. And fuck it if he cared.

Her arm wrapped around his neck as she swayed against him again, her legs rubbing around one of his as their faces came close enough he could taste her breath.

His fingers ran over the small of her back, testing how low he was allowed to touch until he was all but grabbing her ass and the beautiful woman hadn't stopped him yet. An intense look pulling him in as her long hair got in her face as they danced together.

Using the blade of his hand he pushed the pink locks away from her forehead and pressed his against hers as a new song came on.

 _Baby, what'cha say? I aint here to, I aint here to conversate … Baby I don't play …_

Opening his eyes, the same expression from the stairs into the club met him. Her fingers meshed into his sweaty hair and she rolled her body against his as they danced slowly. Following the rhythm of the opening verse with her hips, her free hand undoing one of the upper buttons so her hand could run against his bare chest.

She rested her head against his shoulder as they rocked side to side, her fingers trailing over his collarbone as her mouth fell open slightly, heat radiating off their skin as they touched.

Every time her thighs rubbed against his, he twitched.

Kami he wished they weren't surrounded by people. People who probably weren't playing attention to them at all now he thought about it.

He ran his hand over her ass, Sakura's intense stare not wavering from his as she took a handful of his hair and smile just slightly in permission.

Squeezing her gorgeous ass, her lips lifted as she leant her whole body against him.

Slender fingers pulled on his shirt, which was all but sticking to him and Sakura pulled him down to meet her lips in a fierce kiss, his still squeezing hand going lax as her hips kept them swaying together.

It was slow, filled with purpose and intent. She wanted him, badly and she knew he wanted her too and she was more than happy to give herself to him.

Her lips parted and his did on instinct. He felt her sigh into his mouth, one of his hands finding a place on her hips as she kept rocking against him. The hand on her ass still rubbing and squeezing.

When her tongue met his it was his turn to groan and her hand went from his chest to rest at his stomach. A flash of hopeful desire set his brain on fire as Sakura let her fingers trail over his belt buckle.

 _Guarantee you're gonna wanna leave with me_

'Sakura-chan,' he gasped against her lips when they went back for breath and her trailing fingers on his belt wrapped the clasp against her palm and she pulled on it hard enough that his hips rolled forward and his knee moved further between her thighs.

Acting on instinct Naruto pulled her closer to him, his knee rubbing right up against her core and the beautiful woman in his arms crashed her lips against him, the rubbing of their jeans against each other making him ache for the feel of her skin.

The kiss broke, it taking him a couple seconds to come back down to planet Earth as her fingers stayed at his neck and she put the tiniest of space between them. Her thighs still around one of his but not so he was rubbing at her through her clothes.

Any concern he'd overstepped flew from his head as Sakura's lips went to his ear. She nibbled at his skin and groaned. 'How far is your apartment?'

He told her and Sakura smiled sinfully. 'Closer than mine. Take me there.'

She kissed him before he could say anything to ruin it and led him off the dancefloor. Her hand tight around his as she all but dragged him onto the street.

* * *

They crashed through his bedroom door in a hail of breathy kisses and eager hands.

Sakura laughed when he pushed her up against the wall by the door. His lips going to her pulse just as his hand eased the door closed quicker. 'Mmm.'

She pulled his chin up so their lips met and delight shone in her eyes. Their hips ground together against the wall and Sakura let out a long breath. Arms went around his neck, fingers meshing into his hair while she pulled him against her hard.

His erection, which had been stood to attention ever since their bodies first met in the club, rubbed against her through their clothes and Naruto saw the satisfied pleasure sitting in Sakura's smile.

Kissing it only fuelled it and Kami if he wasn't prepared to pour all of his desire into that fire.

The pinkette's hand went to his belt, lingering briefly before she found his hardness and let out a little sigh that he wrapped his tongue around. A groan trembling between them with the first tentative strokes of her hand.

'Big,' she whispered against his lips. The compliment making him throb against her touch and she giggled.

His hand disappeared up her top as she stroked at him, fingertips running over taut stomach muscles. She giggled a little and he noted away in the back of his head that Sakura must be ticklish.

But his brain was focused higher than her tummy and he grinned into the kiss when he found his target. Cupping Sakura's breast through her bra, he massaged the supple globe.

'Naruto,' she groaned. His fingers dipping back under her breast to slip into her bra enough so his fingers could play with her nipple. Large fingers digging into her breast as the fabric pushed his palm against her.

He rubbed at the stiff bud with his finger, moving it in a tight circle, Sakura rewarding him with breathy moans against his cheek, the kiss broken as he teased her nipple.

Though while Sakura's mouth was busy panting and given him broken kisses, her hand was equally occupied. He grunted as she stroked at him more furiously, his jeans far too tight around his abused length.

As if she could read his mind, Sakura's other hand was at his belt, undoing it with clumsy fingers as she pushed him away just enough so his hand had to leave her breast.

His jeans fell to his ankles fluidly, her hands rubbing him through his boxers, a finger teasing over where a wet patch had formed from his tip.

Clenching his eyes shut as pleasure trailed over his tip down his shaft, Naruto grunted and found his hands on Sakura's top.

She kissed him, her arms going up as the tank top went up and over her head and being thrown to the side.

Glancing down at her breasts, Sakura's hand back on his member, Naruto leant down to kiss the top of the breast he'd been playing with, nibbling along until his lips met her bra.

Her bra was gotten rid of as quickly as her top and Naruto's lips went around her nipple, Sakura breathing hard into the air as he suckled the bud and she groaned out his name. 'Bed.'

He lifted her bodily up so she had to wrap around him. Her thighs pinching his waist with how tight she was wrapped around him, her face buried in his hair as she kissed his head through.

Naruto nearly tripped over his jeans as he kicked them off, his shoes following with them with a bit more difficulty and he miss-stepped and the two of them collapsed on his bed in a flurry of limbs and laughter.

Looking up from his place between her breasts, his head having landed between her soft mounds when they'd fallen.

'Nice view there?' Sakura asked as her chest rose and fell with him on it.

'Gorgeous,' Naruto said, his face feeling hot as he kissed the curve of Sakura's breasts in turn, nibbling at her and licking circles over and around her nipples.

'Fuck,' she groaned as he twiddled her nipple, her head falling back into his mattress as her body arched up against him. She pulled him up to kiss her mouth by his shirt collar.

Their lips crashed together, she all but ripped him out of his shirt and ran her fingers over his chest, marvelling at the muscles years of martial arts gifted him with. Scratching lightly at his chest Sakura groaned again when his lips went down her neck.

Her fingers settled in his hair, pulling lightly as he licked at her pretty pink nipple again before he trailed further and further down.

'Naruto?' she asked, desperate hope that told him he was going in the right direction.

'You okay Sakura-chan?' he asked as he paused at her waistline, kissing the creamy skin where it met her pants. 'Want to stop?'

'Fuck no!' Sakura all but hissed at him. She stared at him with desire emanating from every fibre of her being. 'Do you have one?'

He nodded and pointed at the bedside table with a nod of his head, his fingers slipping around her waist, slowly undoing her pants and easing them away from her, pulling them down and off her legs as Sakura moved to help him. Wondrous desire biting at her lip as he delved back between her legs face first.

'You don't have to …' she breathed as his lips placed fire up her inner thigh until his lips were close enough to taste her eagerness through her wet panties. 'I'm ready already.'

'Do you want me to?' Naruto did his best to sound sexy, he thought he managed it because Sakura inhaled sharply. But it wasn't until her hand went to his face and led him to her sex that he knew.

He kissed her wet spot then higher, Sakura's breath catching as he kissed along her lips tentatively. He hadn't done this for a while but he was going with the idea he hadn't lost his touch by the way Sakura was groaning his name.

Flicking his tongue along the growing wetness, Naruto moaned. This was what he'd needed, a beautiful woman in his bed groaning his name. Fuck he'd missed this so much.

He ran his tongue in a quick wriggle over where Sakura's lips met and the strangled yelp told him he'd found what he was looking for.

'Naruto.'

Licking at Sakura's clit, Naruto ran his hands up under her ass and dragged her panties down over her cheeks, letting his nails run over them in light scratches. Sakura's moans spurring him on as her panties were pulled down from his lips and soaked pink curls tickled his nose.

All obstructions gone, Naruto ran his hands up the back of Sakura's thighs, guiding her gorgeous legs up and out of his way.

He fell upon her sex, licking and suckling on her clit, the cacophony of delight above faint to him. Looping his arm around her still lifted leg, Naruto brought his fingers to rub Sakura's clit as his tongue had been teasing and kissed back down to her opening.

'Oh Kami,' Sakura moaned.

His tongue slipped into her wet folds, lapping away at her eagerly. His grip on her legs having to tighten when Sakura reflexively went to hug his head with her thighs.

Delving his tongue deep and rolling it back out in quick little motions, Naruto moaned into her, breathing in the heady aroma of her arousal as he chased down Sakura's orgasm.

Because be damned if he was the only one cumming tonight.

Sakura's breathing got quicker and sharper above him, her fingers reaching down to pull his hair but she gave it up to play with her breast absently. But even that only lasted until Naruto started to pinch her clit as well as push his tongue as deep into her as he could.

He felt the covers beneath them pull up on either side of them, Sakura moaning his name loudly as she collapsed onto his bed at a complete loss.

Her hips bucked against his face, her climax racing to meet him, as her womanhood throbbed over his tongue and with a sudden thrust of his tongue, Sakura unravelled on him.

'Oh Kami, Kami,' she panted, fingers flexing into the covers over and over until he reached out to grab one hand and she damn near broke his fingers. 'Naruto!'

Swallowing what he could of her, Naruto collapsed his cheek against her thigh and slowly gathered his breath. He wasn't done yet but he needed air for a minute.

Sakura however wasn't as willing to give him time to breathe and after a minute of them lying there in the afterglow of her orgasm, she'd pulled him up and wrapped around him. She used the sudden energy burst she'd found to roll him onto his back.

She straddled him, sitting just below his bobbing member, her hand a little shaky as she ran her palm over the mushroom tip and she took a long steadying breath.

'More,' was all she said, pulling open a drawer in his bedside cabinet and rummaged around. Naruto busied himself taking in the image of the gorgeous woman sitting on his thighs, her quivering muscles against his making his already stiff member ache.

He also took the moment to stare at her boobs. The sway they had hypnotic as she had to wriggle on him to get a proper look. He wanted to kiss them again, to knead them and make the woman groan some more just by playing with them.

Arching up, he placed slow kisses over one pale perfection and Sakura whispered her approval briefly into his hair.

But with a victorious and empathic, 'yes,' Sakura pushed him back down and ripped the little square wrapper open with her teeth.

Naruto just stared as Sakura took a second to read the ripped wrapper as she struggled to get the condom out at first.

She grinned naughtily and pumped him slowly, looking him dead in the eye. 'Thin feel huh?'

The blond grinned back shamelessly, rubbing at her still sensitive clit, her hand shaking a little when she pushed the increased sensitivity condom down over his swollen manhood.

'Should feel better for you Sakura-chan,' Naruto said cheekily, letting his hand be knocked away.

'Lucky me,' Sakura chuckled, lifting herself up, her eyes fluttering closed as she rubbed his tip against her lips before lowering down onto him with a low moan. 'Mmm, definitely big.'

Naruto reached out for her hips, grunting his approval with each fresh roll of Sakura's body over him.

She shifted on her knees, wrapping her arms around his neck when they kissed in slow, hungry abandon. It felt amazing to be in her so completely, for any roll or shift of her weight to make something behind his eyes to pop and sparkle.

'Fuck,' Sakura breathed into his ear, speeding up her rolling, almost bouncing on his dick if she went just a little quicker.

'Sakura,' he groaned into her ear. Lips finding anywhere on her neck or shoulders he could while they wrapped around each other, the tight grip he had on her shoulder with his arm around her back letting her bounce more on him.

He wouldn't take long to finish at this rate. Between days of crazy need and the pure ecstasy of Sakura taking all of him inside of her it wasn't going to take much to push him over the limit.

The only thing that was probably keeping it from being done already was the slight numbing of the condom. Kami he wished he'd gotten one with a stronger numbing effect.

The pressure building in his shaft was already starting to hurry.

He had to hope Sakura wouldn't mind if he came quickly. Desperately trying to stave off the end by thinking about the best to convince Sakura to stay for a round two after a break.

Unfortunately, or fortunately he supposed, Sakura had decided the slow and sensuous pace was done with and she lowered them down onto the bed. Pushing him down with her breasts, lifting his hands up her body to squeeze them both as she reclined back up so she was resting back on her hands. The tight grasp on his knees the only thing keeping her upright.

Watching her body undulate forward, Naruto ran his hands over her hips and thighs, aching to reach her ass but every time he did her rocking locked his wrist between her hip and his.

Her eyes opened half-lidded, a lost smile tugging at her lips and he almost came right then and there.

Hips moved instinctively, thrusting up to meet hers and Sakura moaned loudly into the air, head thrown back. 'Naruto! Yeah! Like that!'

She crashed down onto him, forcing as much of him up her as she physically could and rolled her ass over him, her hands running up her body to clutch at her breast and pull up her hair.

Her hips moved like when they were dancing and Naruto took a grip on her hips hard and thrust up into her hard and fast, her already bouncing breasts slapping against her skin as Sakura's whole body arched back and she all but screamed out his name and curses.

Her white knuckled grip on his wrists never stopped even as they fucked harder and harder, right until he felt the inescapable burst shooting up him and out into Sakura only to meet the condom and flow back down him, Sakura's own climax dribbling out over him as crotch dampened with their exertion and release.

Sakura tumbled down forward onto him giggling and panting hard. Her breath tickled his chest and with any movement a fresh throb of pleasure ran through them.

'That …' Sakura said, her chin resting on his chest, while pushing her long hair out of her face to meet him with mischievous green eyes. 'Mmm, yum.'

Naruto had to agree, and he would have done it with words if he could talk. As it was Sakura was still wiggling her ass with him in her and it strangled his voice with moans.

She finally relented, lifting herself off of him with a satisfied sigh and lay back down on his chest with a grin.

'More please,' she said. Her fingers trailed over his nipple and she kissed his heated flesh. 'Right?'

'Uh huh,' Naruto breathed, cupping her ass and squeezing slowly. 'Catch my breath?'

'Duh.' Sakura freed his still semi-hard member from the condom, teasing the shaft with a finger and kept kissing his chest. 'Not done with this though.'

She started pumping him slowly, languidly. His sensitivity leaving the pleasure a touch painful but before he could ask for a reprieve Sakura released him and recaptured his lips in a slow, pointed kiss.

'Not even close to done,' she murmured into his mouth, peppering his cheek and then neck with fiery kisses. 'Keep squeezing my ass Naruto.'

He did and he honestly never wanted this night to end as Sakura's lips starting moving lower and lower.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Naruto hissed as consciousness beat him about the skull.

How much had he had to drink last night?

He shifted in his bed, burying his face in the pillow and shutting out all the insultingly bright light and felt relief spread over his senses if just for the moment.

They must have drunk a lot. He hadn't had a hangover like this in a long time. There'd been a few beers in the student bar … but that shouldn't have been enough to leave his head pounding like this.

Cherry blossoms wafted up his nose and Naruto's brain fired into gear.

Sakura! They'd had drinks at the bar and then they'd all gone to that club and he and Sakura had a couple of shots while they danced and then they'd come back here and …

His eyes shot open, something he was relieved he hadn't tried to do until he'd rolled over and away from the light and blearily scanned his bed for the pinkette.

But she wasn't there, the smell of her shampoo must have been left behind after they'd finally fallen asleep last night.

A slow grin spread over his face, a sensitive twinge coming from his waist as he winced. Yeah, she'd been insatiable and sexy as fuck and honestly … he was probably gonna have to soak in the tub just to recover.

He groaned as a fresh throb of his headache drew his attention back to pain. Because it was a thing that existed and he was apparently its bitch this morning.

Where was Sakura though? He hadn't expected her to just cut and run on him after a night like that. He listened out to see if he could hear his shower or even just some movement around the room but no.

Slowly peering around the room, he saw the fall out of their evening's activities and grinned again to himself. Clothes lay strewn where they'd been thrown, though with further disappointment he noted that it was just his clothes.

Ah well, he supposed it wasn't the worst thing and anyway, she might just have had to get home early. And she certainly hadn't been in a hurry to leave last night.

He could remember most of last night and he chuckled to himself as he lifted himself up to sit over the side of his bed. He threw the covers back and hunched over slightly as he massaged his temples.

Looking down at himself he smirked. She'd left him naked and sweaty. Well, he supposed he wasn't complaining.

Squinting at the bedside cabinet, Naruto's smirk turned into a puzzled frown. A small slip of paper sat under a glass of water and what he assumed were two painkillers.

In handwriting he didn't recognise, a message was scribbled in just about legible script.

 _Naruto – thanks for the fun night, make sure to drink the water and take the pills. Sorry for ducking out, had to get home early. Hopefully see you around ;) Sakura x x x_

He chuckled, well at least he knew he hadn't literally been used and discarded without some courtesy.

Sipping the water and necking the tablets, Naruto lifted himself of his bed and stretched out his whole body. His back and neck popping satisfyingly, he rolled his neck and sighed.

Naruto picked up the slip of paper, turning it over to see if Sakura had left him her number or something but she hadn't. He didn't know whether to take that as a bad thing or not. She clearly hadn't regretted their night together. Maybe she'd just been like him - desperately in need of a roll in the sheets with someone hot.

Nah, it wasn't worth thinking about in any great detail. He felt more at ease than he had since he'd moved into student halls. Plus he could actually function without his brain bombarding him with how bonkers horny he was. That would do for now.

Besides, phone numbers were kind of irrelevant when Facebook was so everywhere that all you had to do was search a name and look at some photos to find someone. How many women called Sakura Haruno would have pink hair anyway?

Something to consider later if he decided he wanted to actually pursue Sakura, or for her to search for him too. There were even fewer men called Naruto Uzumaki than Sakura's with pink hair.

Shaking his head with a laugh, he placed the slip of paper back on his bedside table and sipped more water.

Wobbling slightly, Naruto walked over to where his jeans had wound up and pulled his phone out of one of the pockets. Bars across the screen filled it so much you couldn't even make out his phone background.

Texts, Facebook messages, even a WhatsApp call. Most of them from Tenten or Ino but there were a couple alerts from Facebook about photos he'd been tagged in or posts sent directly to his timeline.

Most of the texts and messages were just asking him where the hell he'd gone, some getting steadily more typo ridden as alcohol had started to mess with the sender's depth perception.

He considered replying to the two roommates who'd been trying to reach him, Gaara had apparently known he would be wasting his time, but it was still early and if he had a hangover he could only imagine Tenten and Ino were the same.

And he didn't want two angry, hungover women telling him where to go because he had woken them up with a text.

Wiping crystals of sleep from his eyes, making all the unattractive faces a person did when digging at their eyes, Naruto dumped his phone on his bed and tried not to smirk at the still present indents of more than one body on the mattress.

It had been a while, forgive him for being a little pleased with himself.

His stomach rumbled and he rubbed at his bare tummy with a sigh, the rumbling causing a small throb to race across his scalp. He hissed and rubbed at his head.

Right, shower and food. _Then_ he'd see what the hell those pictures from last night were all about. He just hoped he hadn't looked like too much of a moron in candid pictures.

The photographers seemed to live to catch you at an angle when you looked absolutely wasted and he _knew_ his sister would find them and show them to his mother. Which would lead to a very loud, disapproving phone call he didn't think his sore head could take today.

Another demanding roar of hunger came from his stomach and then another, the shower would have to wait apparently. The Uzumaki hunger was awake and if he didn't sate it he wouldn't be able to stand up long enough to actually shower.

Scooping up a pair of boxers … possibly the ones from the night before but he wasn't sure … screw it he'd be showering and changing soon anyway, he pulled them on and slipped into an oversized black t-shirt, an orange swirl sitting in the middle of his chest.

Stumbling blearily out of his bedroom, Naruto used the wall to guide his way down the hall until he could walk unassisted and headed towards the kitchen. The painfully loud sound of the TV already on banged against his forehead making him wince as he pushed open the door.

'Gaara,' Naruto said with a pitiful groan. 'That's really loud man, could you turn it down?'

The auburn haired man turned and gave him a dispassionate stare. 'Oh, I'm sorry Naruto, did _I_ wake _you_ up?'

Naruto grimaced at him. 'Seriously man, I've got a massive hangover, could you please mute it or something?'

Gaara rolled his eyes and paused the game with a pointed stare. 'Fine.'

The blond sighed in relief and shambled over to the fridge and started pulling out enough bacon to feed a small family. The Uzumaki hangover cure, meat, meat and more meat.

'Good night then?' Gaara asked neutrally.

'Very,' Naruto grinned as he turned on the grill and started laying out bacon to cook. 'Sorry for leaving without telling anyone, I was … distracted?'

Gaara snorted and joined him at the kitchenette, pulling out his milk and cereal. 'No shit, we heard that distraction when we got back. All night by the way, thanks for that.'

The blond's face burned but he honestly didn't care. He'd had sex. Gaara could eat him. 'Sorry, wait you said we? Did Tenten and Ino …'

Gaara passed him a glass of orange juice, staring at him until he took it and sipped it down. 'Me and Ino. Tenten's brain decided she wanted to mimic you and Sakura on the dancefloor and went to hunt down Neji. She's not come back yet.'

'So when did you guys get back?' Naruto asked, hunkering down at the kitchen table.

'Little after three,' Gaara said as slid down into a sit opposite Naruto, munching on Cheerios. 'And if I were you, I would be very happy Sakura left before Ino woke up.'

Naruto pulled a face. 'Why?'

If sighs could slap you in the face, the one Gaara let loose would have thrown Naruto across the room. 'Okay, let's talk honestly for a minute yes? Did you honestly not notice that Ino has been all but stripping naked in front of you and jumping up and down to get you to notice she wanted to bang you? Because you can't be that fucking dense?'

Naruto went to reply, a sharp frown pulling an ache down from his temples but Gaara cut him off.

'No Naruto, stop and fucking think about it. When we were playing Tekken the other day she damn near soaked her clothes to ruin just to make sure you were staring at her tits.' Gaara's face contorted into a scowl as he shuddered. 'Or that you have been ogling her ass any time she's bent over even slightly … which she's clearly been doing more than any human ever has needed to bend over. Come on man, I've felt creepy and voyeuristic just being in the same room as you two the last week.'

'I-'

No,' Gaara interrupted again, pointing at him with his spoon. 'Answer the damn question without any bullshit. I don't care you didn't fuck Ino, I don't care that you kept me awake all night fucking Sakura … I get it. But tell me you aren't that stupid, please.'

He didn't answer. His brain was going at a mile a minute trying to come up with an answer that didn't paint him as blind as a bat. Or insensitive as all hell. Or pervy and creepy.

He couldn't, so instead he avoided Gaara's glare to tend to his bacon. Loading bread with the rasher ready to eat and generous dollops of ketchup before returning to the table and munching away at the heaven sent glory that was bacon.

Gaara just watched him, still munching on Cheerios and the image of a furious Gaara chomping on cereal broke him long before the actual glare could have.

'I might have noticed a little?' Naruto offered lamely. 'But I didn't want to assume … you know … I was crazy horny man and I didn't want to be projecting that on her … I didn't wanna be _that_ guy you know?'

The fury in Gaara's expression lifted slowly, ebbing down to muted frustration as he let out a sigh. 'At least Sakura had enough sense to leave before she had a run in with Ino. She's clearly too smart for you.'

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. 'You spoke to Sakura?'

'Mhmm,' Gaara hummed as he drained the milk from his bowl. 'Nice girl, apologised for being noisy. Unlike someone I know.'

Naruto flipped Gaara off in response and frowned. He had to wonder if wanting to avoid a run in with Ino was why Sakura had left after all.

She had only given him a vague reason in her note … would she have stayed if he hadn't lived with Ino? Or if there she hadn't seen the apparent thing between the two blondes. Which yeah … now he was getting an outside perspective who wasn't his sister, even he had to admit they were both being obvious.

Shaking his head gently Naruto grimaced. 'You think I should apologise to Ino?' Naruto asked. 'I didn't mean to lead her on or anything …'

The other man shrugged. 'Do what you want, she's probably still going to be pissed. Hypocritically or not. Just don't let it turn into some kind of drama. I live here too.'

The blond grumbled and reclined in his chair, finishing the rest of his breakfast in companionable silence. The only interruption being Naruto getting up to fish out more bacon, offering some to Gaara who took it with some suspicion.

It may have been a little burned …

They stayed like that, eating and slowly getting over their respective hangovers, until the kitchen door swung open and Naruto suddenly really wished he'd had the fortitude to make himself not look like he'd been sexed within an inch of his life.

Ino, bedhead owning her hair and in her comfiest looking, lilac coloured pyjamas stood in the doorway and peered at him through a bleary, hangover haze.

The second she clocked him though, the frown on her face deepened and she marched primly to her cupboard and began making herself a coffee.

'Good morning Gaara,' Ino said in a forced cheerfulness. 'Coffee?'

Gaara widened his eyes at Naruto and rolled them as Naruto's face whitened. 'No thank you Ino, hope we didn't wake you up?'

Naruto glared at Gaara, so much for not being mad at him for keeping him awake.

Gaara stared back evenly, but turned to face Ino as she plodded over to the table with her hot cup of coffee.

'No, _you_ didn't.' Ino plodded over to them, hot cup of coffee in hand and plonked down on the empty chair next to Gaara with a relieved sigh. The kind of relieved sigh normally saved for when you'd sat down after hours of heavy lifting.

Ino's hangover must have been even worse than his.

'Did you sleep okay? I'm surprised you're already awake,' Ino asked Gaara. Specifically not looking at Naruto.

Guilt trickling down his spine the longer she refused to address him.

'I don't sleep much,' Gaara answered simply, shrugging one shoulder. 'Never have. I'm fine.'

'Good,' Ino said, her eyes finally turning to Naruto. The sliver of hurt in them piercing him before they disappeared behind aloof coolness. 'Don't suppose I have to ask you.'

He just shook his head, averting his gaze.

The previously comfortable silence he and Gaara had shared prickling with tension as the three housemates sat there in painfully awkward silence.

Ino mercifully broke it soon after. 'Just the three of us?'

And he immediately wished she hadn't. Because while he would own up to being a bit dense sometimes … he knew what Ino was actually asking.

She wanted to know where Sakura was.

Shit.

'Yes,' Gaara said, either because he recovered quicker than Naruto or because he hadn't been shocked at all. 'Tenten hasn't shown up yet, so just the three of us.'

'Uh huh,' Ino said as she sipped down more coffee with a sigh of relief. 'Where's Sakura Naruto?'

Naruto fought every urge he had to swallow his tongue and run the fuck away. He had done nothing wrong and Ino had no right to pull him up on something she'd done literally on her first couple days of moving in.

Except they hadn't been flirting or sending signals for about a week before then …

Okay, she could be a little mad.

'Well,' Gaara said, with absolutely no inflection or hiding the reason for why he was getting up and leaving Naruto to face the music alone. Traitor. 'I'm going to go and shower, I want to enquire about my induction day at the university today. See you both later on.'

Naruto stared after his new friend with the sting of betrayal rising in his heart. The neutral toned man had all but thrown him to the wolves damn it.

And he knew it too, because Gaara paused by the door and made an extremely subtle nod towards Ino's turned back and a frown. His message clear and annoyingly prescient.

Fix the problem, quickly, or it would only get worse.

Damn him for being right.

'See you Gaara,' Ino said as she peered at Naruto still. 'So?'

Naruto groaned into his hand and carded it up through his hair. 'Look Ino …'

'Yes?' She cut him off. An unreadable expression on her pretty face.

Nothing for it he supposed. She wasn't going to let him off for it, so he'd just have to grit his teeth and say his piece.

'I'm sorry for not realising you were interested in me, I didn't want to assume and I had spent every day hornier than I knew what to do with and I'm apparently thick as anything and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings but …'

'Naruto,' Ino started to say but Naruto powered on.

'I mean, I'm not exactly used to women hitting on me or trying to entice me without it being some kind of a joke and I didn't want to be the creepy roommate who was hitting on you when it wasn't what you were after. And I never meant to –

'Naruto!' Ino shouted and he heard a heavy sigh come from the woman.

He stopped, letting his rambling apology sit in the air and did his best to resist looking up at Ino glaring at him. He didn't wanna see that. He liked Ino, he had hoped they'd be friends even before all the uncontrollable lusting after her had started.

'Okay, stop staring at the table and look at me.' She said it in a matter-of-factly tone and Naruto dared to look at her.

So when he saw Ino's trembling lips he started to feel like the biggest ass until they stopped trembling and she was smiling at him. What the hell?

Then she threw her head back and laughed.

'Oh you're too sweet to be mad with,' she said after the laughter died down a little.

'You're not mad?' Naruto asked. Perplexing women were perplexing was all he had to say to that. Though he knew enough not to say it out loud. His expression probably didn't hide it though because Ino giggled some more at him.

'I was a bit,' Ino said after she'd got herself back under control. 'But now I know you just didn't realise I was hitting on you as blatantly as I could because … oh kami I can't believe how sweet you are … because you thought you were just assuming, Naruto, should I have just jumped you or something? Would you have got it then?'

Okay, what the hell was going on? Wasn't she meant to be hurt and angry at him?

'I'm so confused,' Naruto said, looking at her with a lost expression. 'I'd thought you'd be pissed off.'

'Mm, I _was_.' Ino smiled fondly before frowning at him. 'But last night while I was listening to you give that girl the time of her life, I remembered you'd had a similar thing when me and Kiba hooked up. And then I felt like a bit of a hypocrite. Granted I hadn't been missing clues from you that you thought I was hot.'

Naruto blushed but stayed perfectly silent, even averting his gaze from her smirking, knowing face.

'And yes, I thought you and me would be keeping the apartment awake all night,' she carried on, winking at him so he'd blush some more. 'But well, you really weren't sure I was coming on to you?'

'Didn't want to assume,' Naruto said quietly, smiling slightly. 'Makes an ass out of you and me y'know?'

Ino rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. 'You're a moron. You're lucky you're handsome.'

'Thanks? I think?' Naruto said, still trying to figure out if he was in trouble or not. 'So are we good?'

Ino shrugged and finished her coffee. 'Sure. Just next time, when a girl's drenching her boobs in front of you … don't be so dim. It'll hurt her feelings. Though by the sounds of it, if _Sakura_ did it you'd notice.'

'I noticed when you did it too,' Naruto grumbled in his defence, his face burning hotter and hotter.

'That was kind of the point yeah,' Ino shoved him lightly over the table. A forgiving smile filling her face. 'So I'm guessing I'd best stop trying to seduce you now Sakura's around?'

It was Naruto's time to shrug, standing from the table and making his way over to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water and sipped at it, the hangover he'd had ebbing away more and more.

'Not sure what's going on with me and Sakura to be honest, might have just been a one night thing,' Naruto said, leaning back on the counter thoughtfully.

Ino turned in her chair to look at him and raised an eyebrow. 'You never struck me as the one night stand kind of guy.'

The male blonde shrugged. 'First time for everything? I just don't want to –'

'Assume, yeah I'm not shocked,' Ino finished his sentence with a snort. 'Well if she's got any brains she'll be back around I'm sure.'

Naruto smiled, mostly to himself, because he wouldn't mind if Ino was right. At all.

Ino unfolded herself from her chair and stretched out stiff joints in front of him. He looked away. Because Ino's pjs were riding up and _now_ he had the common sense to be a gentleman about it.

'And if she doesn't come back round,' Ino said as she walked towards the door, which he was stood right next to. She ran a finger across his chest and leant in to whisper. 'I wouldn't say no to taking her place.'

His face burned red and she smirked at him before placing a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek. 'Um …'

'And have fun figuring out if I'm messing with you or not.' She patted his chest and whipped towards the door after giving him a wide, toothy smile. 'You're gonna drive yourself crazy wondering.'

And with that she left the room as quickly as she'd arrived.

He was left standing there a little dumbstruck, the closing door bringing him back to his senses as it closed.

He laughed and shook his head.

'I deserved that,' he said to the empty room.

'You really did!' Ino called from the hallway. 'See you later Naruto!'

* * *

Naruto's day after his heart to heart with Ino went by in a bit of a haze.

He'd spent most of the day in his room, lazing around as his hangover ebbed away. The only thing he did that was even a little productive was clean up his room. He'd wind up tripping over his discard clothes if he didn't.

He also pinned Sakura's note to the notice board hanging on his wall while he'd been tidying.

He wasn't entirely sure why, but it felt like a good memento to keep and honestly, it'd probably help his ego to walk into his bedroom and have a reminder that he'd brought home at least one woman while he'd been here.

Even if it didn't happen again.

And it certainly didn't for the rest of the week. Other than the occasional trip to the shop to pick up food and other sundries, Naruto only came into contact with members of the opposite sex that weren't Ino or Tenten was when Ino demanded a do-over on their roommates' night out.

This time he was told in no uncertain terms, he was _not_ to wander off with some hot little thing and leave them wondering where the hell he'd got to.

Tenten's exact words when she'd finally showed up the day after their first night out.

The feisty brunette had immediately come to his door and knocked on it loudly, not stopping until he'd opened it.

She'd read him the riot act. It had actually been kind of sweet once he'd realised she wasn't bothered that he'd hooked up with someone other than Ino. His choice in hook up apparently was something of a relief.

'Dating the roommates ends badly for the other people in the apartment,' she had said, the irritation of experience powering her words.

No, Tenten's problem had been that once they'd got to the club, she'd lost sight of him and had no idea where he'd gone.

They'd all been drunk she explained, he wasn't answering his phone and while Gaara had comforted her with the fact that he'd probably just gone off to 'hump Sakura' – which they had apparently found out was true when all three of them showed up at home to the chorus of Sakura's moans – Tenten had been too drunk to understand logic.

'If it happens again you text me that you're getting laid or whatever alright?' Tenten had demanded, poking him in the chest. 'We'll figure out a code or something if this is gonna be a regular thing.'

He'd nodded, assured her it wouldn't be and apologised for worrying her.

The brunette had let out a breath and given him a playful punch in the arm and shoved past him into his room, demanding details. Which he gave in the most respectful way he could while still satiating his friend's curiosity.

A gentleman never kissed and told as his dad had insisted. His grandfather was less gallant of course but Naruto always tended to listen to Minato Namikaze over the pervy old man.

Mostly he stuck to the dancing, the kissing and then how he'd woken up to a note and no Sakura in the morning.

She had not been best pleased that Sakura had beat a steady retreat before he'd woken up but she'd understood. She also laughed at him for how Ino had messed with him, reiterating the pretty blonde's words that he had definitely deserved it.

Naruto asked where she'd wound up in the end and Tenten went a little pink as she explained that she'd shown up at Neji's place, the one he shared with their friend Lee and Neji's cousin, quite drunk. And basically took over his bed as she'd been a 'typical drunk girl'.

In other words, flying between crying and angry and then horny. Neji had probably had his hands full all night.

Which explained why the text he'd gotten from Neji asking what the hell he'd done to upset his girlfriend came in the morning, and not in the night time.

And that was pretty much it. They hung out a bit longer and then Naruto was left to his own devices. Even his sister left him alone, which he suspected had more to do with the fact that Ino wasn't posting pictures of him online so Kurama assumed the job was done.

He'd spent the rest of the week expecting something from her. But all he got was a text a couple days after thanking him for finally pulling his finger out.

She didn't actually say it that way but he was doing his best to not remember the lewd comments from his sister. It was better for his mental health that way.

Like how not telling her he hadn't actually hooked up with Ino but Sakura was also good for his mental health.

Kurama had given him such a load of shit for his high school girlfriend being a redhead like her and their mother, he didn't need a repeat of it because Sakura had pink hair. Not to mention that if told his sister how he'd met Sakura she'd never let it go.

And he didn't feel any kind of shame over that, quite on the contrary, but his sister could make even the things he wasn't embarrassed about endlessly annoying and the beauty of not living with her was she didn't hear about everything he did anymore.

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly. Their group night out led to less raunchy results, the four of them getting terribly drunk, even Gaara got tipsy after a little cajoling, danced and partied until the early hours of the morning and trundled back to the apartment when the sun was coming up.

Other than that though, the week was filled with hanging out in his room watching movies or playing video games, sometimes with Gaara, and just generally killed time.

It was uneventful but it was nice.

But all good things must come to an end and Naruto soon found himself on the night before his first classes playing video games with Gaara and eating pizza. A much needed pre-induction day ritual that Naruto was deciding he'd be making a yearly thing.

Or a semesterly … was that a word? Who cared, they were gonna do this more often. He'd decided.

Gaara cursed and Naruto cheered as Gaara's player was sent flying off the arena with a calamitous scream.

'Cheating bastard,' Gaara growled as he puffed out air from his cheeks and crashed back into the sofa cushions. 'How did you do that?'

The blond shrugged, scooping up a piece of pizza and grinning. 'I'm better than you?'

'Bullshit,' Gaara said, the character selection screen loading up and displaying the little profiles of playable characters. All of which were unlocked, even the ones you had to pay for. 'You're just spamming the ring knock out moves. That is seriously unskilled.'

'Kicks your insomniac ass though doesn't it?' Naruto asked through a mouthful of pizza.

'Close your mouth when you chew you degenerate,' Gaara said coldly but a flicker of amusement went through his eyes. 'When are you in class tomorrow?'

Naruto, who was just putting his tongue back in his mouth, sighed. 'Nine, apparently no one told the administrators that students are known for sleeping in until noon. How about you?'

'The same. Though it will only be an information handout and scheduling session I would imagine.' Gaara took a sip from his Fanta and sighed with satisfaction. 'I'll be in there maybe an hour and a half, if they throw in a welcoming speech. My brother and sister said that's what they did at Suna University. Would make sense if they did it here too.'

Naruto grunted and selected his next character for their endless rounds of beating on each other. 'Sounds about right. My course is apparently quite big, so I'll be there maybe an extra hour on top of that? Though I can't see why they don't just leave our schedules and stuff in the lobby for us to pick up. I could be sleeping instead, or working out, or literally anything other than sitting there being told things I already know.'

The redhead shrugged. 'Maybe you will learn something you don't know? Like patience and courtesy to others.'

'I don't have bad manners because I kick your ass at video games,' Naruto said lazily as they set to bloody battle yet again. 'You're just a sore loser.'

The fighting on the screen drew their attention, banter being left for after one of them had lost a round. Gaara won the first one but the earlier pleased smirks and good-natured ribbing were missing. Naruto had won too many matches two rounds in a row for Gaara to assume victory was in the bag.

And indeed Naruto was just about to win the tiebreaker round when Gaara decided to play dirty.

'So heard from Sakura yet?' Gaara asked. His tone holding the air of mild curiosity but the steel in his eyes belying his tactic. 'Added you on Facebook or anything?'

'No,' Naruto said calmly. Gaara's guy kept dodging out of his way and it was annoying. 'Just like when you tried this trick earlier. Lose with some dignity man.'

Gaara chipped away at his health but Naruto only had to smack him once to win.

'I was just curious,' Gaara said innocently. 'You seemed quite disappointed you hadn't heard from her. Did you want more or something?'

'No,' Naruto said a little more tersely. 'She hasn't added me on Facebook and I haven't looked for her on it either. I don't want to be that creepy guy who can't let a good night be just that. Now stop trying to throw me off.'

Gaara snorted, a victorious grin sneaking onto his face as their health bars became level. One hit on either guy would decide the winner and the redhead wasn't relenting.

'I don't know Naruto,' Gaara said, still in his supposed innocent curiosity. 'She seemed kind of unhappy to leave when she did. Maybe she's just waiting for you to reach out to her first, doesn't want to seem clingy or needy or whatever people who care about dating worry about.'

That … was something he'd considered and then dismissed quickly. Sakura had been incredibly upfront about what she wanted and she'd gotten it in spades. If he did say so himself. She wasn't the kind of person who'd get shy about wanting more than a onetime thing if she in fact wanted more.

And he wasn't exactly looking for a girlfriend either. Even if they were gorgeous and sexy and the scent of their shampoo was still catching him unaware in his bed at night …

'Ha!' Gaara cheered, throwing his hands into the air still holding the controller and crowing quite uncharacteristically. 'Eat that blondie!'

Naruto groaned as his player lay unconscious on the floor and glowered at Gaara. 'That was a dirty trick.'

'Kicked your horny ass though didn't it?' Gaara remarked with a small smirk.

'Whatever,' Naruto said as he let the controller fall to the sofa and groaned. He rubbed at his eyes and grimaced. He should probably go to bed. It was getting late and he did have to be up relatively early.

'Hey,' Gaara said, a touch of concern hinted at his lips. 'Just a game right?'

Naruto snorted and clapped Gaara on the shoulder. Only a little harder than was comfortable for the thinner man. It made Gaara's shoulder buckle slightly and the man winced through the discomfort.

Cheating was cheating, it deserved retribution.

'Just a game,' Naruto consented and smiled at his friend. 'But we had probably best call it a night, class in the morning and all that.'

Gaara, clearly appeased, shrugged and made a non-committal noise. 'I think I'll stay up a little longer. Sure you don't want a rematch?'

Was there a touch of guilt in his friend's question? Well he supposed he wasn't _such_ a bad winner after all. He could give him another round.

'Alright,' Naruto said, trying not to smile too much at the relief in Gaara's face when Naruto picked up the controller. 'One more match, then I'm going to bed.'

And so they went at it again. Naruto resetting the natural order and kicking Gaara's ass soundly. And then again and again. And onto another game and when Naruto and Gaara finally finished and retreated to their separate rooms it was well past three in the morning.

Naruto just had to hope whoever led his induction meeting in the morning wouldn't mind him being half-asleep.

Or possibly him not showing up at all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

Alarm clocks were always a terrible waste of money as far as Naruto was concerned. They never woke him up on time, they were never anywhere near as loud as they should be and they always broke when you threw them against the wall.

Which was why he didn't buy them.

He used his phone.

Which was also equally breakable when you threw it at a wall.

He'd gone through way too many phones that way and his parents had insisted that he either learn to not throw his phone on reflex to an alarm or put his phone somewhere out of reach at night.

So that's what he'd started doing. And it worked rather well. When he needed to set an alarm for the morning, he'd leave his phone on charge over on his desk. That would make him get up to turn off the alarm, normally blaring out some really annoying noise or song to make sure he actually _would_ get up, and then he'd be out of bed so he may as well face the day.

It was a good system and he'd used it for years without fail.

The problem was, that with him basically having no need to wake up before noon ever since he arrived at university … he hadn't set an alarm for weeks.

And when he had finally left the living room, and Gaara, to go to bed, he was so beat he hadn't stopped to put an alarm on for the morning. Just collapsed into his bed and was snoring moments after his head hit soft pillow.

So no alarm had been set, and Naruto was still snoring along when he was meant to have got up to shower and eat breakfast.

In fact, if it wasn't for the thin walls of student halls, Naruto would have slept well into the day and missed his induction lecture entirely.

Instead, some heavy footed angel was stomping around in the room above his and Naruto was jerked awake with a start. A quick glance at his phone and more expletives than even his sister had ever said in a row, had set Naruto into full on go mode, rushing through a shower in five minutes flat and running out the door within fifteen.

By some form of a miracle he'd made it to the university building his induction was taking place in with five minutes to spare. His half-wheezed question of where the lecture hall was was met with a pointed finger from a disapproving woman, with liver spots over her scalp, as she shouldered through a door into the administration section of the building.

He'd burst through the door into the lecture hall, and then the person strolling in before him, their steps lazy like the guy himself wasn't entirely awake, and slammed himself into the first open seat he could find.

Centre of the room and on the front row of seats. He'd regret that later probably but he was too busy trying to draw oxygen into his empty lungs. Sweat making furrows down his hair as he arched back into the wooden bench and sighed heavily in relief.

He opened his eyes and found a girl with turquoise hair grinning at him in recognition. He smiled back sheepishly and closed his eyes again, deep breaths rolling through him, his chest getting loose with each long deep breath.

'Naruto?' a familiar feminine voice asked him uncertainly from his left.

His breathing hitched and he went stiff … not in that way! … he froze he meant. A long slow breath out and Naruto forced himself to look into the eyes of an equally uncertain Sakura Haruno.

'Sakura …' Naruto said, a reflexive smile flickering to life, his heartbeat ramping up. 'Uh, hi?'

The beautiful pinkette, blushing a little, smiled back at him. Her eyes drifting back to his still heaving chest and then his face before she blushed a bit more. 'Hi.'

Tension you could cut with a knife hung between them. Along with questions that he hadn't realise he'd needed answers to, answers he had either been denying or flat out lying to himself about wanting, and more than a couple of ideas he'd like to run past her flew through his head.

His eyes ran over her, the loose sweatshirt and pants combo clearly designed for comfort as opposed to sexiness … did nothing to stop her from looking absolutely gorgeous. It was a wholesome look and it somehow felt more right seeing her dressed like this.

The pink rimmed glasses that perched on her nose added to the wholesome thing she had going on. And to top it all off, Sakura had her light pink hair tied back in a loose, low ponytail, bangs framing her forehead and an honest to god pencil tucked over the edge of her ear.

Sakura looked like the dorky best friend in high school that you'd never admit you had a crush on because you didn't want to ruin your friendship. But damn it all if you wanted to know what her lips tasted like. Right down to the notebooks and pencil case sitting on the desk in front of her.

His gaze came back up her and something warm in his chest throbbed as their eyes met and they shared a shy smile. Naruto's cheeks burned like daylight when he realised Sakura must have noticed him checking her out.

And going by the fact that she was still smiling at him … she hadn't minded. Coupled with her surreptitiously checking him out while she smiled he couldn't help but blush even more.

What? She'd been checking him out. That … was gratifying.

'Guess we never covered what we were studying huh?' Sakura said with a chuckle. 'Just Literature? Or with something else?'

Naruto shrugged and grinned at her. 'Lit and Creative Writing, Grandpa insisted. You?'

Her gaze never wandered from his face as he spoke, it might have dipped to his lips a couple times, but it never went away from his face. He thought the room might be getting warmer the longer she looked at him though.

'Same, I … kinda dared Sasuke to come study law and he said only if I turned my Literature into Literature and Creative Writing. He got in on law and well … a deal was a deal. I'd been writing stuff for years and never publishing it or anything but you know … They seemed to like the stuff I sent in? I mean, they let me come here to study so …'

Naruto smiled, his cheeks hurting with it, as he listened to Sakura go into an adorable ramble about her writing, leaning on the heel of his hand to stare at her mouth, not wanting to miss a single word she said and remembering what it had felt like to kiss those wonderfully pink lips …

So he almost didn't notice a familiar, far too damn familiar, white haired old man when he bounded into the lecture hall and hollered. Drawing everyone's attention … especially Sakura's, who turned away from Naruto to stare at the old man stood only a few meters away from her. Her pretty face going from mild alarm to incredulous shock.

Naruto growled to himself as he turned to glower at the man.

The old man was dressed in a red and green pullover that his wife had clearly brought him and green pants. Two red lines led down from his eyelids to his jaw, running either side of his stupid grinning mouth, and he winked at the room en masse. His mess of white hair fell down over his forehead and down his back as he struck the same pose he'd done thousands of times before when Naruto was a child.

'Behold young minds! It is I Jiraiya Namikaze! And while I have been known for many years as a world renowned author, connoisseur of the written word you might even say … for the next year you may also have the privilege of calling me … Jiraiya-sensei!'

Naruto was amazed everyone in the room couldn't hear his teeth grinding. He was going to murder everyone who had kept this from him. He had never felt so goddamned betrayed in his entire life and he was going to make damn sure people paid for him being tricked onto a writing course where his fucking eccentric, perverted grandfather was one of the lecturers.

Oh god, he hoped he was just one of the lecturers.

'Now first, for those who don't know me, that's fine, we'll get to know each other very well over the next year I'm sure,' his grandpa said with a wink towards a group of rather gorgeous young women.

As long as his grandmother wasn't involved in this trick, she was going to be the first person he called when he got out of here.

'But for a brief rundown, my name is Jiraiya Namikaze, and I am the Head of The Creative Writing and Literature Departments at Konoha University.'

Naruto groaned into his hands, drawing more than a few looks. He sobered immediately as Sakura raised an eyebrow at him while Naruto dragged himself up from where he'd been drooping into his chair.

Jiraiya seemed to not notice … or not care, as he carried on.

'I have been writing for decades, my books range from historical romances to the more modern action hero fare, so I can assure you that I, along with my fellow lecturers, have oodles of experience that we can share with you. Not only with your stories, poems and essays … I daresay we shall be able to help you in _other_ pursuits too!' The wily old man's eyes turned directly to Naruto at that point, the unbridled joy there only building as they flitted to the beautiful woman Naruto was sat next to, and just how close he was now realising they were sitting. 'Yes, all sorts of things I'm sure.'

Naruto's fingers started to go white around the edge of the desk and he was sure he heard a couple of cracks. It seemed to draw Sakura's attention again but Jiraiya was already running through his introductory speech about how the course would break down.

'Are you okay Naruto?' Sakura whispered, concern in her hushed tone.

'M'fine,' Naruto said as politely as he could. 'Could I borrow some paper and a pen? I overslept and forgot.'

'Oh,' Sakura said, immediately ripping out some paper from her notebook and laying it down in front of him with a pen sitting on top of it. 'Here you go, let me know if you need anymore.'

'Thanks.' Naruto picked up the pen and immediately started scratching out a sharp message across the paper, Sakura glancing over at him worriedly as she made much more detailed notes about whatever Jiraiya was waffling on about.

Naruto waited until his grandfather was looking his way and, with fury burning at his eyes, slammed the collected paper down, facing up so only the old man could see the message.

Naruto just hoped he'd made the words big enough so his asshole of a relative could see it.

It wasn't like he could shout 'What ThE FUCK?!' at his new university lecturer after all.

The old man's face split into a shit-eating grin that both Naruto and Kurama had inherited and passed him a pile of booklets to be handed out amongst the class. Probably a class syllabus.

'Be a good kid and take one and pass it along alright Mr…?'

 _Eat shit and die_ , Naruto screamed mentally before smiling coldly. He took a booklet and passed the pile to Sakura, who even in the corner of his vision he could tell was blushing for some reason.

'Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki … Mr Namikaze.' Naruto ground out.

'Please Naruto,' his grandfather said with a smirk, Naruto wanted to rip it off his face and slice open his throat with it. 'No need to be so formal, call me Jiraiya. And make sure to read your syllabus booklet, loads of important information in there.'

'I'm so telling Baa-chan about this old man,' Naruto whispered so quietly only Jiraiya could hear him. 'You'll pay for this.'

Jiraiya smirked and moved back to the centre of the floor before the chairs and long desks, returning to his speech.

Naruto pointedly ignored the look Sakura was shooting him and studied the booklet instead. A corner of a piece of paper stuck out at the top end of the front page and he tried to flip the cover as subtly as he could.

It was an envelope, a surprisingly thick envelope and Naruto growled at the note scribbled on the front of it.

 _Dinner, Friday, will explain. Please get laid, you look stressed Grandson._

 _Love Grandpa_

He quickly stowed the envelope and grumbled.

He was definitely calling his grandmother once he got out of the lecture.

The next hour passed by quickly, more lecturers on the course dropping in here and there. There were a couple faces that looked vaguely familiar from his grandpa's pictures with his writing buddies and an apologetic looking Kakashi-nii, who was definitely on Naruto's Shit List right now.

But when it was over, and Naruto was preparing to corner his grandpa, the man was surrounded by students with questions and he knew he'd never get the horn dog away from gorgeous college aged women asking him questions without great effort that would blow the cover he had been maintaining since high school.

He didn't need people knowing he was the grandson of a smut novelist. Granted Jiraiya Namikaze was more than just a porn writer, but it was what had made him the most money. And what he was most vocally proud of for some reason.

Naruto's friends at school knowing had been bad enough. He didn't need this shit following him through every aspect of his life.

He sighed as he got up to leave and stopped in his tracks.

Maybe this day didn't have to be an entire headache. What were the chances he'd bumped into Sakura again? That had to be acted upon, no matter how angry he was with the old man.

'Hey Sakura?' Naruto said, turning to find the pinkette looking at him. Decidedly not going over to ask questions of his grandpa, thank god, and frowning thoughtfully.

'Yeah?'

'You wanna … hang out?' He rubbed at the back of his neck and felt his cheeks heat up as he tried to meet Sakura's green eyes. 'Like … right now?'

'Oh,' Sakura said, her eyes wandering over to the gaggle of people around their head lecturer and lingering.

 _Fuck_.

'Yeah,' Sakura said with a sheepish smile, green eyes darting back to him. 'I suppose we have some things to talk about huh?'

The smile was adorable and melted away his anger with his grandpa. Even as he could feel the old pervert's eyes boring into the back of his head.

'Not really, I just wanna hang out with you if that's cool?'

Sakura searched his face, bit her lip and appeared to make a decision.

It was the same kind of expression she'd had on her face when he'd invited her over for a drink in the bar. His pulse and … other places throbbed in recognition.

'Sure Naruto, let me just pack up and we'll go get coffee or something yeah?'

'Sounds perfect,' Naruto said with a smile.

* * *

'Okay, so,' Sakura started as she perched down on a bench in the middle of the park they'd been walking through after swinging by Starbucks. 'You probably wanna know why I disappeared on you the morning after huh? I mean, the way we were dancing in the club as well and then all the sex …'

Naruto sipped at his own drink, sitting close enough that she didn't have to raise her voice but not so close it felt like he was crowding her. 'Well, you left me a note, so I kinda just took that at face value.'

Sakura blushed prettily and grimaced. 'I felt so bad for doing that though, and then not looking for you on Facebook, or leaving my number. I didn't want you to think I regretted that night because I really didn't it was … well it was …'

Naruto touched her hand gently, Sakura pulling back on reflex briefly before she caught herself and smiled softly at him.

'It was great,' Naruto finished with a nod and another sip of vanilla goodness. 'I thought it might have been because things had gotten a bit awkward with Ino the night before and you hadn't wanted some kind of thing in the halls.'

The pinkette huddled around her coffee, a caramel macchiato she'd told him when they'd ducked into the bustling coffee shop. Her mouth that close to his ear had rocketed him back to their night together and he'd been trying to not let his brain live there ever since.

'It was partly that … I just … god, I don't do drunken hook ups you know? I wasn't really sure what you were meant to do afterwards.'

She looked up at him, her frown just as pretty as the rest of her and she looked at him beseechingly. It made him want to wrap her up in a blanket and cuddle her to be honest.

'I didn't … hurt you did I? By leaving I mean.'

Oh god, if hearts could actually melt.

'Sakura,' Naruto said with a soft, warm smile. 'You gave me one of the best nights of my life, we're cool. When you hadn't left a way to get in touch … I honestly thought you'd just been after a night of fun and I was the lucky guy you chose.' Naruto winced as he played that back over in his mind. 'Sorry … that kinda sounds worse than I meant it to?'

'Little bit yeah,' Sakura said evenly. Her lips a straight line as she sipped at her coffee again. 'Kinda makes it sound like you think I just wanted to get laid.'

Naruto blushed and placed his coffee down on the bench. 'I didn't, not that that wouldn't be cool if you did! I just meant that I had a great night, I hope you did too and don't worry about getting away in the morning. I wasn't upset.'

Which he realised was a lie the second he'd said it but he didn't want to seem clingy or needy in front of her. Especially as he'd already pissed her off.

'I mean, I would have preferred that you were there in the morning you know? We could have talked and cleared the air and I don't know … hung out and …'

 _Had more sex._

He blushed at how much that thought appealed to him. 'But I understand if you wouldn't have wanted that. I mean, like you said, you didn't leave your number of add me on Facebook so I actually kinda worried it wasn't as good for you as it was for me. Because it really was _amazing_ for me Sakura I can't say that enough!'

His face felt so hot he was almost certain he could pour his coffee over it and it'd just reheat his cooling drink. He decided to bury his face in his hands again and groaned deeply into the building silence between them.

God he was such a dumbass. She must think he was some kind of player who hooked up with women for one night stands all the time. She must hate him.

'Why didn't you look for me on Facebook Naruto?' Sakura asked, her voice neutral but he could sense there was more to the question. 'I mean, you don't seem the type for a one night stand. Men who are don't get so adorably flustered like you just did.'

Adorably flustered?

Naruto looked up to find Sakura smirking at him from around her coffee.

'Uh …'

She raised an eyebrow at him and nudged him with her foot. 'You tell me why you didn't and I'll tell you why I didn't, deal?'

Naruto nodded and straightened up. He could feel his heart ramming against his chest, did he dare tell her the truth as to why he didn't add her?

Because the longer he spent sitting with her, the more he was beginning to understand _exactly_ why he hadn't tried to find her. He hadn't wanted to come on too strong and freak her out. Because he might, _might_ have the tiniest smidge of a crush on her and wanted to let her make the first move, if any.

He hadn't learned much in how to be smooth with women, Naruto had never even tried to be a ladies' man. He'd had one serious girlfriend in school, a couple of fumbles here and there before and then his one night stand with Sakura.

Lady-killer was not something he'd claim to be.

But he knew he'd come across as stalkery if he'd immediately hunted Sakura down on Facebook if she hadn't added him first or left him a way to get in touch.

And he would really, really like to touch her again.

Um, he would like to spend more time with her he meant. Yeah, that's what he meant.

She was still watching him, amusement sparkling in his eyes so he knew he must still be blushing and he sighed.

Fuck it, the truth couldn't really be all that bad right? Some of it at least.

'I didn't wanna seem like I was obsessed with you or a stalker. I figured I'd bump into you again eventually and we could talk then. Become actual friends or something you know?' Naruto offered a bit lamely.

'You didn't want to scare me?' Sakura asked helpfully. She smiled slightly at him and quirked an eyebrow. 'And you'd be happy with us just being friends? After that night of amazing sex?'

Well … _no_. He'd much rather have a lot more sex with Sakura but if all she was after was a friend, well he could go with that.

It wasn't like he was madly in love with her and friendship would devastate his fragile heart. They had a great night and while he would be a massive liar if he said he wouldn't prefer being more than a friend. But there was nothing wrong with being just friends, men who bitched about being friends with women they wanted to fuck instead were assholes of the highest order.

The same kind of asshole who would drop a woman after he'd gotten in her pants. Regardless of how good she'd been in bed or how much shit the woman must have gone through to risk losing a friend by having sex with him. No matter how amazing she said it was after.

Wait … she'd just agreed it was amazing right? He'd heard her correctly?

'Sure,' Naruto said with a smile, pushing aside the relief that Sakura had enjoyed herself too. He needed to not think of her that way right now. It was distracting. 'I mean … you can never have too many friends right?'

Sakura snorted and gave him a look that was equal parts incredulity and fondness. There was also something else swimming in her stunning green eyes but he couldn't figure it out without actively staring at her. Which would kinda ruin the whole 'not a creeper' thing he was going for.

'So I told you why I didn't look for you,' Naruto said, gesturing towards her pointedly with his open palm. 'Your turn.'

'I suppose it's only fair …' Sakura started, putting her hand through her hair and blowing the wayward strands left behind out of her face. It was incredibly endearing. 'But promise not to judge me too harshly for it?'

'Course,' Naruto said immediately. 'No judgement here.'

She visibly relaxed after searching his open expression and sighed. 'I didn't look for you because well … I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I had a kinda rough break up just before I came to university. Nothing dramatic or anything it just didn't end great and I'm not overly eager to get back out there on the dating side of things. I want to focus on my studies and then once I've got a handle on that … I don't know. But right now? I'm not looking for a new boyfriend you know?'

He could get that. He and Tayuya had broken up just before he came to university. She'd wound up getting into a university on the other side of the country to study music and well … neither of them had wanted to try a long distance thing and truth be told they both didn't really know what they wanted out of life.

It'd ended amicably, they'd had a great summer together and then it had been over. She'd gone to the Oto University of Sound and Naruto had moved to the university side of Konoha. He could still feel the tight hug she'd given him before getting in her car.

He'd been moping for a week afterwards and that was from a _good_ break up.

He could only imagine how much more a painful break up must have hurt Sakura.

She twisted the hem of her top in her fingers and looked at him awkwardly. 'But then I bumped into you in the bar and we were drinking and you were fun and the dancing, fuck Naruto, the _dancing_.'

He could definitely agree on the emphasis. The way she'd moved on the dancefloor, with her thighs around his leg, ungh … And then the kissing and the touching, he'd have been going crazy remembering that night even if they hadn't gone to bed together.

'Not to mention the sex,' Sakura paused, their eyes locking as colour filled her cheeks to match the heat up his neck. She bit her lip and he wanted to kiss it instantly. Her shoulders hunched up reflexively while she glanced at him. 'That was just … Well, you know.'

She grinned sheepishly. Jumping slightly when his hand reached out for hers and they sat in the silence that their reminiscing deserved.

'So basically,' Naruto said slowly, rubbing his thumb over Sakura's knuckles, the sensation sending comfort up Sakura's body if the way her shoulders were easing were any clue. 'You just wanted to get laid.'

Sakura burst out into a throaty laugh and swiped at him playfully. 'You pig!'

'I'm just saying Sakura,' Naruto chuckled, not letting up on the thousand watt grin stretching his face. 'You don't want a boyfriend, but you _did_ spend all night in my bed. And my roommates can attest that you enjoyed yourself …'

'Oh God,' Sakura blushed prettily and hid her face. 'That's actually why I ducked out early, I hate people who are that loud in bed, it's so obnoxious! And I was never that person before, I never used to be that loud!'

'Glad to fix that for you,' Naruto said with a cheeky wink. Which earned him another playful swipe and a bigger blush. Especially when he grabbed her fingers and pulled them down to the bench, holding them gently. 'C'mon Sakura, who doesn't like hearing people getting it on?'

She raised an eyebrow at him, but the blush was still there. 'People trying to study?'

'Could probably just do with the distraction to be honest,' Naruto countered with a bit of thoughtfulness. 'But hey, back on topic. You don't want a boyfriend, that's cool. No feelings hurt on my end and you got laid like you wanted.'

Sakura pulled a face at him good-naturedly. 'You're sure you're not upset about me not wanting to get into a relationship? I don't want you to think I'm the kind of woman who just uses men and discards them.'

Naruto snorted and lifted her fingers to his lips. He placed a kiss against her fingers and the diminishing blush flared right back up again. 'Oh please Sakura-chan, use me as much as you want.'

Sakura shivered at his tone and smirked coyly. 'Why don't we start as friends first hm? See if you deserve to be used.' She moved her fingers and he let her, the two of them sitting whisper close as Sakura's beautiful eyes bore into him.

Naruto swallowed the urge to close the distance and kiss her, beaming at her instead. 'Friends would be great.'

Sakura nodded and smiled some more. It was a lovely smile had he mentioned?

'Well, I'm glad we cleared the air Naruto.' She sighed and carded her fingers through her hair. 'Honestly, I've been thinking about how that went for days.'

'Is that the only thing you've been thinking about?' He asked cheekily before he could stop himself.

Her phone went off with a message alert before the pinkette could do much more than blush and playfully glare at him. Sakura groaned in irritation as she glanced down at her phone.

'Fuck,' she hissed. 'Sorry Naruto, but I gotta go meet my Mom for lunch, she wants to hear all about the induction day.'

Naruto shrugged and watched as Sakura rose from the bench. 'No problem Sakura, I'll see you in class next week or something yeah?'

Sakura was scooping up her bag and looked at him for a long moment. That 'decision making' expression crossing her pretty features again before she cocked her head at him. 'Or if you want, you could meet me at my place later and we can hang out some more? I still feel bad for bailing on you that morning, Let me make it up to you with a movie night? We'll order in and spend all night watching Netflix or something.'

He grinned at her. There was something of a promise in her expression that he just missed as Sakura's eyes turned uncertain. 'Sounds good to me Sakura, where are you staying?'

'I'll message you on Facebook,' Sakura said, checking her watch and grimacing. She caught him mid-opening his mouth with a playful glare and a pointed finger. 'Make a joke and I'll take back my offer of Netflix, understood?'

Naruto closed his mouth and winked. 'Wouldn't dare Sakura-chan.'

The pinkette shivered a little again and glared at him some more to hide the flicker of a smile that crossed her face. 'See you later Naruto. I'll message with my address okay? Bye!'

And with that the pinkette darted out of the park. Naruto watched her go and waved when she paused to look back at him. She smiled, waved back and then turned the corner and was out of sight.

Naruto sighed happily and finished the rest of his coffee in a few gulps.

All in all, that had gone a whole lot better than he'd expected. And hey, she wanted to be friends, that'd be cool. Not, admittedly, what he would have wanted himself but hey, it wasn't just about him right?

Besides, he'd meant what he'd said about having more friends. It was never a bad thing.

Speaking of friends, he didn't know what the rest of his were doing today. He knew Gaara would be in class, Tenten and Ino too probably. While his course had him in class maybe three days a week, Gaara, Tenten and Ino were all doing much more in-depth things.

He was the lone creative among a bunch of sciencey types. Even Tenten's sports science had her studying anatomy.

So they probably were either still in their inductions or getting some early start on their course work. The rest of the people he could hang out with or talk to would either be at work or similarly occupied too.

He was on his own.

Guess he'd just have to find a way to kill time before he met up with Sakura tonight.

Would he have time to do some university stuff before she wanted him to come round? She hadn't told him when to show up after all.

Oh well, hopefully she'd message him soon and he could plan accordingly. He should probably just go home and nap, with all the adrenaline of seeing Sakura again gone _and_ the late night playing games with Gaara he was worn out.

His phone went off as he stood up and he scooped it out of his pocket in a fluid motion.

 _Sakura Haruno has added you on Facebook. Accept request?_

Naruto grinned at the little thumbnail of Sakura's smiling face next to the alert.

Then he hit accept.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

The day had gone really slowly since he'd left the park.

He'd admit to a bit of clock watching, he still hadn't heard from Sakura but he was trying to not focus on that too much.

She was with her mom and he could only go on how much time his mother had spent with Kurama during her first year away from home to guess how long Sakura would be. If Sakura's mom was anything like Kushina Uzumaki, he might actually be getting a rain check on tonight's plans.

His mother still got a bit defensive when she was teased about the way she'd wrapped around her eldest child, and had to be convinced that Kurama would call every week and come home at least once a month, before she would let go.

She'd been similarly put out on his last day at home but she hadn't been quite as literally clingy with him. Naruto suspected it was because she'd been mentally preparing for it and was doing her best to resist a repeat.

The amount of relief in her voice when he'd called a couple days ago told him he was on the money.

So yeah, Sakura would message him when she was free. Besides, he did actually have things he needed to do before he went around to her place. Mostly just stocking up on supplies and a bit of food shopping but he rolled back into his apartment with a fresh supply of notebooks and pens, and a couple of cup-o-ramens, and was reading through his course syllabus when the living room door creaked open.

'I'm serious man, that guy has got to be related to Lee! That hair can't be a coincidence!' Tenten insisted as she and a frowning Neji entered with their own armfuls of shopping. 'You're sure Lee's not adopted or something?'

'Tenten,' Neji said exasperatedly. 'You think if Lee was related to your lecturer he wouldn't have already told you? Multiple times. While shouting? Hey Naruto.'

The long haired man lifted a couple fingers up from his brown paper bag and Naruto waved back, watching amusedly as the two of them continue to bicker. 'Hey.'

'Yeah, hi,' Tenten said quickly with an equally fleeting smile. 'Will you just ask Lee if he's got an uncle called Gai Maito? I mean who else wears all green like Lee does? And who the hell wears orange leg warmers to a lecture if it isn't a style choice? It's really bugging me!'

Neji sighed, already slotting some of the shopping into Tenten's shelf on the fridge, pulling a face at something in there. 'Why don't you just ask him yourself? Also someone needs to clear out your fridge, something's off.'

'Don't look at me,' Naruto said, gesturing at his empty ramen cup. 'Only thing in there that's mine is fresh today. Must be Gaara's or Ino's.'

'Gotta be Gaara's,' Tenten, peering into the fridge and shrugging. 'Ino's shelf is just filled with diet drinks and kale.'

Neji just shook his head and kept filling the shelf with food.

Tenten plonked herself down on the sofa next to Naruto and blew out a breath. She glanced down at his booklet. 'How'd your induction go? Is the head of your course as crazy as mine? Honestly, I'm sort of worried the whole things gonna be a wash.'

Naruto grimaced and shut the booklet. 'Is he really that bad?'

'He gave us a workout schedule that we have to complete every morning. It's insane too, literally, no one could do that much exercising in one day. It wasn't until he was reminded that the course is about treating sport related injuries and not actually competing that he got rid of that. He was about ready to have us running out the lecture hall then and there to get started. The guy's fucking bonkers.'

He made a sympathetic noise and picked at his booklet anxiously. He got the impression that a bit of commiseration would help Tenten's mood but he really didn't want to get into just how irritated he was about his grandpa being his head lecturer.

'Tell me yours is at least as crazy, it's an arts degree, did they come in wearing a beret and smoking one of those long cigarettes or something?' Tenten smirked and Neji swallowed a laugh when he came to join them. Handing his girlfriend a bottle of water and smiling as she leant into him reflexively. 'Please, Naruto, I need it to be not just me.'

'He's …' Naruto started, trying to think of the best way to phrase his next sentence without just ranting about his world famous, smut peddling grandfather being in charge of the education of dozens of young women. And his front row seat to all of it. 'He's certainly a character yeah, was proper creepy about all the girls in there. I think the only one he wasn't checking out was Sakura, though that might just have been because he was too distracted …'

'Wait,' Tenten interrupted, waving her hands in front of herself and staring at him in amazement. 'Sakura? _Sakura_ Sakura?! Well fuck the creepy perv, now I need to know everything about that! Did you know she'd be on your course, what did she say about cutting out on you? How the hell did that even go?!'

Naruto cleared his throat and looked to Neji for help, but the pale eyed man looked equally curious as his girlfriend.

'Um, yeah, Sakura, she's doing the same course as me, I didn't know. It didn't really come up –'

'Yeah, suspect you two were a bit busy getting it on to ask personal questions huh?' Tenten said, her tone somewhere between teasing and amused. 'You know, other than if it was in ye–'

' _Anyway_ ,' Naruto said with a glare. 'It went okay, better than okay actually. We went to that park near the university and got coffee. We cleared the air and we're gonna be friends. No regrets on either end, no hurt feelings, so yeah, it went good.'

Tenten and Neji shared a knowing look that he didn't care for and the smiles weren't helping him either.

'Friends huh?' Tenten said, the amount of scepticism on her tongue it was a wonder she could talk at all. 'Sure. When are you seeing her next?'

'Yes,' Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest. 'We're actually hanging out tonight. She wanted to make up for ditching out in the morning so she invited me over to her place for takeout and a movie.'

The couple's eyebrows rose in unison and their smiles got even more knowing.

'You know I can see you right?' Naruto said snarkily. Throwing a cushion at Tenten and scowling. 'We're just gonna be friends, not everything is about sex you know!'

The couple smiled some more, Tenten's a little more obnoxious than Neji's but the fact that he could see Neji's teeth told him just how much the smug prick was enjoying himself.

'No, we get it,' Neji said, his pale eyes dancing with mirth. 'You bumped into the girl you picked up in a bar, had sex with for literal hours and when you two finally talk again she invites you over to … what's the term Tenten?'

'Netflix and chill hon,' Tenten chimed in, sipping from her bottle and nestling into her boyfriend's arms while he nodded. 'Sakura invited Naruto round for some Netflix and chill.'

'Thank you,' he said. 'She invites you over to Netflix and chill and you don't think she's after a little more than a movie night? Come on Naruto, I've known blocks of wood less clueless than you.'

'Hey!' Naruto snapped back. 'I'm not clueless! It's not like Sakura's the first girl I went to bed with!'

'Naruto, dude,' Tenten said, barely containing a laugh as he glared at her. 'You seriously think the girl who's world you rocked, oh stop blushing we're all adults here and we all heard her, would invite you to her place to watch movies just because she wants to be your friend?'

'Yes! And what's wrong with that?' Naruto groused, feeling a little silly while resisting the urge to actually pout. His friends were being assholes though so he wasn't entirely unjustified he felt. 'She felt really bad about ditching out the morning after and since we're gonna be in classes together, isn't it better if we try and be friends instead of just awkwardly dodging each other?'

The door swung open at that point, interrupting some probably sarcastic innuendo from Tentent, and Ino came striding in with a bag slung over her shoulder and her long blonde hair in an elaborate braid that must have taken ages.

'Who's awkwardly dodging who now?' Her eyes lit up with the prospect of fresh gossip and Naruto felt his head fall into his hands long before it actually did.

'Sakura and Naruto are on the same course,' Tenten said with a grin, gesturing for Ino to join them with her hand. 'She was at his induction this morning. They got _coffee_.'

'You're shitting me,' Ino hissed, her bag being discarded on the table before popping down onto one of the empty chairs, her legs pulled up under her as she settled in for full on gossip mode. Her clear blue eyes darting between the three of them. 'Tell me everything!'

And so, much to Naruto's chagrin and with some liberal stretching of the truth if you asked him, Ino was brought up to speed on Naruto's awkward second meeting with Sakura. Naruto chiming in against his better judgement when a detail was missed and to remind them that Sakura had specifically said she wasn't after a boyfriend.

He didn't say why, that wasn't his story to tell, but still. He made sure to repeat it a couple times. They all dismissed him with some seriously patronising smiles and dismissive waves to shut up.

Ino's face never changed from the measured expression the entire time and when she finally did speak, Naruto wanted to run to his room and hide under the bed.

'Girlfriend wants a second ride on that horse,' Ino said, grinning as Tenten and Neji burst into peals of laughter. The blonde winked at Naruto, who himself was burning red with embarrassment. 'You must be fucking amazing in the sack.'

'I hate all of you,' Naruto grumbled, pointedly ignoring their laughter and rose to stomp out of the room.

'Oh come on Naruto, we're sorry, don't go,' Tenten called after him once he'd gotten to the door, probably because she was the first to stop laughing. 'We're just teasing, come back and we'll stop, right Ino?'

Naruto turned back in time to see the blonde stare at him and beam. 'Course, I just wanna ask one teensy, tiny, little question first?'

He glowered at her, regretting the decision to stop more and more as Ino was visibly resisting the urge to laugh. She took his silence as consent and struggling admirably asked. 'Do you have enough condoms? You gotta have protection!'

The laughter doubled and Naruto could have sworn steam came out of his ears as he swung back around and wrenched the door open. 'Fuck all of you!'

'Sakura wouldn't like it if you did that!' Tenten shouted after him as the laughter seemed to triple and he rushed out of the room.

He could still hear their laughter even after his door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

After about an hour, and a long calming shower, Naruto was finally back in a good mood.

His friends were jerks and he really did hate the assumption that he and Sakura couldn't just be friends, but if they really pressed … he would agree that part of him did think inviting him over to her place to watch movies meant more than what Sakura had said.

But he could just put that down to his overactive brain and the fact that Sakura was stunningly attractive and that night had been some of the best sex he'd ever had.

Thankfully for his moral high ground, that part of him wasn't very loud and he was able to kill the expectation of getting laid tonight in its crib. He didn't want to be the kind of jackass who _couldn't_ be friends with a woman he was attracted to.

Especially because she genuinely may only be interested in friendship, and his judgy friends were just jumping to some seriously big conclusions.

Didn't mean he wouldn't be putting on some nicer clothes, and using some of that cologne Kurama had got him as a going away present, before he went over. You know, just in case.

Said nice clothes were lain out on his bed behind him. He hadn't heard from Sakura yet and he didn't want to do something stupid, like spill something all over himself, before going to meet her. Besides the comments he'd get from the peanut gallery if they caught him walking around in something more dressed up than a t-shirt and jeans, would be relentless.

He'd also had to deliberately put his phone out of reach. If he checked it one more time and the time was still basically the same he was going to go crazy.

Not to mention there had been a string of messages that came through while he was in the shower. All from his sister asking him if he'd had his induction yet. The level of mock innocence and the frequency of the texts the longer she'd gone unanswered told him that his demon of a big sister had definitely known _who_ his head lecturer was.

And she hadn't warned him.

She could quite literally go to hell for that. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of a sparring match through texts. She could stay unread and he would deal with her later. Besides, if she even got the whiff of his plans to hang out with Sakura tonight … he'd be praying to go back to just Tenten, Neji and Ino giving him grief for it.

Unfortunately though, with him deliberately avoiding anything with a clock or something his sister could pester him through for her own amusement … she'd moved onto every messaging app there was to get his attention eventually, he'd had to mute her on literally everything. He would actually be impressed with her perseverance if she wasn't being such an asshole with it … it had left him with precious few distractions.

He'd thankfully been able to lose himself in an old favourite book for a little while, but his brain just wouldn't let him focus on the plot. It was frustrating as hell.

Not to mention it was just beginning to get dark and he still hadn't heard from Sakura.

Maybe she was just being nice when she'd invited him round to her place? Or she'd found something she'd rather be doing than hanging out with her one night stand she had the misfortune of being on the same course as.

That'd really suck and truthfully, he'd have preferred she'd just been up front with him about that to his face. He got it was kinda awkward but she could have just been honest about it. Naruto would have understood and they could have kept a friendly distance.

The decision to do exactly that was literally forming in his mind when his phone suddenly burst to life, Sakura's profile picture filling his screen as the phone rang.

'Naruto?' Sakura's voice came through the phone, a clear note of concern coating her words. 'I'm so sorry! My mother kept me for way longer than I thought!'

And just like that, all the doubts and worries were swept away by the relieved smile that spread unstoppably across his face. How could he ever have been frustrated with her when she was so clearly upset she'd left him hanging?

'It's okay Sakura, did you have a nice catch up with her?' he asked. Desperately trying to not just ask if he was still coming over tonight. He would understand if she was too tired and he didn't want to creep her out by pushing her on her own offer, but god did he hope they were still on for tonight.

Because he wanted to hang out with his new friend. That was all. Honest.

'Oh, yeah, it was nice.' She was a bit dismissive of it or maybe just didn't want to go into it. 'Anyway, I know it's getting close to eight but I was wondering if you still wanted to come over?'

More relief flooded through him and his smile got so big he felt it stretch his cheeks.

'Yeah, if you're still free?'

'Wouldn't be inviting you to come round if I wasn't,' she said, the light tease in her tone spreading warmth up his neck. 'Want me to text you my address?'

'Please,' Naruto said. 'Should I pick anything up on the way?'

'No, we'll order some takeout once you get here. See you soon Naruto.'

He could hear the smile in her voice just before the phone clicked and she was gone. He rubbed at his cheeks, his own smile making them ache with how damn happy he was.

Naruto threw on his clothes rocket fast, almost forgetting to put on the cologne in his hurry, and was already pulling on his shoes when his phone pinged with Sakura's address.

 _Flat 3, 28 Cherry Blossom House, see you soon Naruto xxx_

He read the message over and over, especially the three kisses at the end.

He stood by his bed, trying to keep himself from jumping to conclusions. Girls sent kisses at the ends of messages all the time. It didn't mean everything his friends were insinuating was right. Maybe she was just a girl who sent kisses at the end of her messages to everyone.

Naruto was definitely reading way too much into all of this. He shook his head, sent a quick reply that he'd be there soon. He spent far too long debating on whether to send a kiss back and finally, feeling foolish for obsessing over it just sent his text and finished tying his shoes.

Checking his wallet as he pulled it out of his crappy jeans, he saw he would need to draw some cash out on his way to Sakura's place.

 _Maybe you should take a couple condoms too,_ his traitorous brain offered, the innocence in his own brain so fake it made him scowl. _You know, just in case_.

Shaking his head to clear out the presumptuous thought, Naruto walked out of his room, slipping his wallet into the pocket of his nicer jeans and thanking god his roommates hadn't caught him on his way out.

He did hurry his walk when he heard one of their doors opening though.

* * *

Naruto found Sakura's place easily enough. The place was a little closer to the city's centre, and their university building, than his was. A comfy walking pace would probably have you rolling out of bed fifteen minutes before your lecture.

Like his place there was a gate where you needed a key fob to get through and an office where security and student advisors were set up. Only this building was seriously swankier than his was and at this time of night there were only security on. He suspected if he tried to get them to let him in it wouldn't end well as well.

It was a _really_ nice building.

Thankfully for him, someone he vaguely recognised from the gym buzzed him through after a quick explanation he was meeting a friend and Naruto was walking his way over the courtyard just as Sakura was reaching the front door of her tower of apartments.

When he saw the beautiful pinkette he'd never been more glad he'd decided to put on his nice jeans and a flattering long sleeved top. He looked casual, not like he was trying too hard to impress but not so comfortable he was expecting to laze around her apartment like he owned the place.

Sakura had gone for a similar get up as this morning only, he noticed with a slight blush, a lower cut to her neckline to show just a little bit more cleavage and a bit more make-up, which made her green eyes pop like emeralds, dazzling him so much he almost didn't catch that the glasses were gone.

'Hiya Naruto,' she said, slightly breathlessly. 'You weren't waiting long were you?'

He shook his head and she gestured for him to follow her into the lobby of her apartment block. Giving him a hug that lingered just a little when he reached her. Naruto returned the hug and the smile she gave him as he got close enough to smell the slightest hint of cherry.

'Don't worry about it,' Naruto said easily. 'How are you?'

'Hungry,' Sakura said with a tinkling laugh that made his skin shiver pleasantly. 'Do you have any objections to pizza?'

He grinned. 'Does anyone ever?'

She returned the grin and pressed the button for the elevator, the button illuminating blue, the sound of the mechanism starting smoother than he expected in a student apartment block. Even one this nice.

'I just hope you aren't one of the weirdos who put pineapple on pizza,' Sakura said with a wink. She suddenly frowned and looked a little sheepish at him. 'Unless you are and I just said a really stupid thing?'

Naruto laughed and shook his head. 'No, don't worry, I never got the whole pineapple thing on pizza. Who even does that? And in chunks? Why ruin perfectly good pizza?'

'Oh my god, right?!' Sakura said, reaching out to grab his arm, he could have sworn he felt her squeeze his bicep just a little. 'Sasuke gets it on his and it grosses me out all the time!'

'I judge Sasuke slightly,' Naruto joked. Getting him a smile from Sakura that warmed him to his toes as they got into the elevator. 'Is it okay that I judge Sasuke for that?'

'I mean,' Sakura said as she stood close to him, as if to whisper conspiratorially. Also gifting him another waft of her cherry scented perfume. 'I judge him for it a lot. So I guess it's okay.'

They shared a grin and their gazes lingered. Naruto felt his collar getting warm and he looked around the polished steel of the elevator to distract himself from noticing that Sakura's jeans were just a bit more form fitting than the one's he'd seen her wearing this morning.

Not that he'd meant to notice his new friend's ass looked great in her jeans in the first place. He hadn't even realised he was looking anyway. She'd just bent over to tie her shoelace and he hadn't looked away in time and so he got a rather nice view of her ass was all. Didn't mean he'd been looking deliberately.

He just wasn't blind okay?

'So,' he said, aiming for conversational but probably missing by a mile. 'How was your day with your mom?'

'Yeah, it was nice. Just brought her up to speed on my induction and we went for lunch,' Sakura replied simply. 'Honestly, I think she just wanted to make sure I was still alive and found a good enough excuse. I don't think she's handling me moving out as well as she expected.'

Naruto turned to see her smiling fondly. It was infectious.

'Yeah, my mom was like that when my sister went away. She almost moved into Kurama's dorms the amount of time she spent there.' Naruto grinned as Sakura laughed. 'Seems to be taking it better now I'm only across the city.'

 _And because Grandpa's my head lecturer. And Kakashi-nii is here too probably. Note to self, add Mom to list of people to yell at._

But he couldn't seem to hold onto his anger when he was around Sakura and her soft, sweet smile.

The elevator climbed up a little further and the doors opened smoothly seconds after the digital display above the doors showed a red six.

The elevator opened onto a swanky lobby. Cream carpets soft as clouds lay before him like some great desert of plushness and there were polished wood doors lining the walls at intervals that had to be entrances to apartments.

Potted plants as tall as he was and expertly maintained stood on guard next to each door and little trestle tables held lamps and pieces of art.

Large windows almost as tall as the whole room were a little sparser but the views they offered were amazing he expected.

He definitely wasn't in any old student dorms now.

'Nice and high up huh?' Naruto said as they stepped out into the corridor. They walked past a window and Naruto was gifted with a truly breath-taking view of Konoha lit up at night. Skyscrapers still towering above and parks strewn beneath. 'Wow.'

Sakura came to a stop next to him and laughed lightly. 'Yeah, I'm still getting used to that. I could never afford a place here if it weren't for Sasuke.'

Naruto smiled mischievously. 'So you guys rob a bank to afford this place or something?'

Sakura laughed that glorious laugh and swatted at his arm. 'No, nothing like that. Sasuke's family put us up, it pays to be best friends with the son of a very wealthy family. Not that I ever cared about their money, of course.'

Sakura gave him a nervous look but when he smiled back openly it lessened. But he could see there was clearly something on her mind.

Something he recognised in some of his friends growing up when they were invited on holidays or trips with his own rather well off family.

'I don't think you're taking advantage of your rich friend Sakura,' he said soothingly, taking the chance to rub her arm gently. 'I'm sure you've been an amazing friend and Sasuke just wanted to show you a bit of gratitude.'

That had always been why he'd invited his friends anyway.

Seemingly eased, Sakura's fingers fell over his and she turned to walk towards what must be her and Sasuke's place. 'Thanks Naruto, some people have accused me of some not so nice things when they find out me and Sasuke are friends.'

Naruto shrugged, he was no stranger to people and their surprisingly detailed opinions of shit they knew nothing about. Heaven forbid he dared to date while being the grandson of Jiraiya Namikaze.

If it weren't for his grandpa's strict approach to his family and journalists, Naruto would never have gotten a moment's peace. He felt sorry for Sasuke and Sakura already, being judged just because Sasuke's family had money, that sucked balls.

'I've gotta ask though,' Naruto said as they came to a stop. 'He works in a student bar because …?'

Sakura chuckled and shrugged, it did nice things to her cleavage. 'Search me.'

 _Happily_.

'It's not like his family made it a condition or anything. But enough about Sasuke, you go sit down and search through the local pizza places and start up Netflix, I'll get us some drinks.' Sakura walked into her apartment and Naruto was met with yet more ritzy furniture, though a lot more comfortable looking than he had expected.

A three piece suite of sofas and what looked to be a recliner were arranged around a big TV and bookcases filled with DVDs, video games, books and even a few records took up the rest of that wall.

A wooden dining table, with six matching, high backed chairs, was set slightly away from the far wall, thin rectangles of night sky coming through where windows had been placed strategically around the room. They must have let in perfect lighting for meal times at that table.

Pieces of art were spread tastefully across the apartment and a spiral staircase led up to what he assumed were the bathroom and bedrooms.

A few years ago he'd have been endlessly annoyed that his wealthy grandfather hadn't decked out their home with equal amounts of splendour but now he was just impressed. Besides, he liked living like a normal person now he'd had his head taken out of his ass. He didn't need fancy things to have a wonderful home.

It was still really goddamn nice to look at though.

The sofa looked to be the same size as Naruto's bed back in his parent's house.

'Seriously,' Naruto said as the door shut behind him, Sakura already going into the kitchenette and pulling out glasses. 'What does Sasuke's family do?'

'Private security most recently,' Sakura said with a light chuckle. 'You wouldn't think that would bring in as much money as this place clearly demands huh?'

Naruto remembered to shake his head in time, Sakura watching him amusedly reminding him he wasn't meant to know just how much money a good security firm could make.

'They're old money really,' Sakura said with a smile around the place. 'You wouldn't think it though, Sasuke's parents and brother are really down to earth. His dad's a bit of a dick but you know, shit happens.'

But Naruto hadn't really been paying attention, Sakura had leant over the smooth marble countertop of the kitchenette and what had previously been a bit of tasteful cleavage had turned into a direct view down her top.

The part of him that was still a randy teenager noted away that Sakura's pale skin looked delectable against the sharp red of her bra before he forced himself to look away. He would not ogle her damn it, and instead he pretended to be admiring the apartment some more.

Sakura either didn't realise he'd gotten an eyeful, or was just being nice about it, and went to the fridge before turning back to him. 'What would you like to drink Naruto? I've got juice, water, Pepsi Max, beer or wine?'

Truth be told, Naruto rather fancied a beer. It'd help with the dry mouth he was getting every time Sakura bent down to check the recesses of her large fridge.

The jeans were definitely tighter, and thank you to whichever fashion designer made them hug her hips like that when Sakura bent over.

'Depends what you're having Sakura,' Naruto said, deciding at last to go sit himself down on the giant sofa and flick through pizza places on his phone. Making sure to keep his gaze at the back of Sakura's head or shoulders when he glanced over.

'Well,' Sakura said, her voice taking a sort of lyrical tone, as if even her voice were weighing up the options. 'After a long afternoon with my mother … I'm going to start with beer. Sound good to you?'

She looked over her shoulder at him, her body arched distractingly, and raised an eyebrow. Her green eyes dazzling him with their gorgeousness.

He cleared his throat. It was surprisingly hot in Sakura's apartment all of a sudden.

'Beer sounds good. What do you want on your pizza?'

'Umm,' Sakura hummed. She popped the caps off two bottles of beer and he could have sworn she literally swayed her way over to him. She perched down on the sofa right next to him, her thigh rubbing against his. She passed him his beer and they clinked the glass bottles. 'Depends where you're going? Pizza Hut? Dominos?'

Another waft of her cherry perfume washed over him. Naruto was very aware of how nice Sakura smelled and a rebellious, opportunistic part of his brain wondered if her skin tasted like cherries this time.

'I was – erm, do you have a preference?' Naruto asked artfully. 'I can't imagine you eat much pizza.'

Sakura raised an elegant eyebrow at him, her mouth quirking up at the side to match. 'Oh? What makes you say that?'

Naruto gulped as the mischievous glint in Sakura's eyes only helped to remind him that her thigh was rubbing up against his and the rest of her was so close the distance could be measured in millimetres.

'I just mean … you're in such good shape, I'd think it was all salads and healthy stuff that you ate?' Naruto wanted to jump off a cliff as he rambled out what he hoped was a compliment. 'I know I have to hit the gym hard if I eat a whole pizza by myself.'

The pinkette arched away from him, her thigh never leaving his though and gestured at her body with a hand. His eyes being drawn to all his favourite places and his brain yelling at them to stop it.

'You would be surprised how much food I can eat Naruto,' Sakura said simply, still smirking at him. 'Besides, I never said I'd be eating a whole pizza. I was planning on sharing with you.'

She nudged him in the side. 'Just don't get pineapple okay? Or I'll have to seriously reconsider being your friend.'

Naruto laughed, tension fleeing his body as Sakura looked at him, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

'Such high standards Sakura,' he said, knocking his shoulder into hers lightly. 'How am I meant to meet that?'

Sakura's hand came to rest on his knee, patting it gently and sending electricity shooting up to his brain at the touch. 'I'm sorry Naruto, I only have room for one heretical pineapple-on-pizza lover in my life, and Sasuke's beat you by years. You'll have to suck it up.'

Doing his best not to focus on her palm now rubbing over his knee, Naruto made a show of mock indignation. 'Fine! Guess it's a good thing I don't like pineapple on pizza then. So Pizza Hut or Dominos?'

They teased each other a little more as they went through the menus on their phones, more than a couple of double entendre falling from Sakura's plump lips, they finally settled in on the sofa and were laughing together through all the dirty jokes they could make based on pizza.

Naruto nearly swallowed his tongue when she emphatically argued for a Meat Lover's pizza because she just _loved_ meat.

You couldn't make this kind of stuff up if you tried. Honestly, he was pretty sure his grandpa had made some of the same jokes in his books.

Finally though, the pizzas were ordered and two more bottles of beer were fetched from the fridge, and Sakura and Naruto were flipping through Netflix, trying to find something to watch.

It was proving more difficult than planned though.

'I don't know Sakura,' Naruto said with a semi-exasperated sigh. 'Netflix seems to be getting worse the closer we get to Disney Plus coming out. At this point I think we'd be better off just finding a laptop and streaming something illegally.'

'Naughty boy,' Sakura teased as she sipped from her beer, making Naruto blush when she winked at him. 'Oh! How about this one? I used to watch this movie all the time as a kid.'

Naruto raised his eyebrows at the screen and shrugged. He'd never been much for rom-coms but hey, if Sakura wanted to watch it, he supposed he could give it a go.

'Sure,' he said. 'I've never seen it, is it good?'

He leant back in the sofa, Sakura mirroring him. She was still so close if he wanted he could wrap his arm around her shoulders and touch his chest.

'I love it, it's so romantic. And a little bit naughty, honestly, my mother flipped her top when she caught me watching it when I was thirteen. But I couldn't stop laughing, it's so funny! There's this one part …'

Sakura was so exuberant in her description of the film, Naruto couldn't help but smile at her. She hadn't actually told him anything about the movie that he couldn't have got from the rating but he didn't care.

The film started and Sakura was lost to the movie within five minutes. It was cute.

It was actually a really good film too. The main character was your typical woman in her twenties who didn't have time for love in her life but was doing well at her job, while the main love interest was a breath of fresh air in her world and after a pretty original meet cute at a zoo of all places, Naruto found himself quite gripped and hadn't realised that Sakura's hand was on his thigh until the film reached the thirty minute mark.

Well maybe she hadn't noticed where her hand was, she did still seem to be entirely fixed on the movie. Besides, it wasn't like he minded her hand being on his leg. Though if it got much higher he'd be apologising for what was a natural reaction to a gorgeous woman touching you.

The movie carried on for another couple minutes without Sakura's hand moving, though she did rest against him when the love interest did something quite romantic. She'd actually trapped his arm and it was starting to fall asleep, if he didn't move it soon he'd have a legit dead arm.

But if he told Sakura, she'd notice she was so close he now knew what type of shampoo she'd used today. Then she'd probably pull away and things would get awkward. Neither of which would be good.

So he sat there, feeling his arm going numb, the press of Sakura's arm, thigh and hand against his body stirring something around his groin. He was so glad he'd put jeans on.

Especially when the pair on the screen got to the scene that earned its rating and he was gifted to the actress being full frontal, tastefully of course, and Sakura's hand rose up into his lap to find him stood up to meet her.

Though instead of shock, revulsion or pulling away from him and calling him a creep, Sakura rubbed her hand over his erection. Pushing the stiffened length of him around with her palm, then stroking her finger up and down his shaft.

Well … he owed his friends an apology.

He swallowed a groan. 'Sakura?'

'Mm?' she hummed, her hand not stopping its ministrations. Actually she gave him a playful squeeze. 'Problem Naruto?'

'Um.' He closed his eyes as pleasure sprinted up his spine. 'No, I'm just … what's happening here?'

Her hand stopped, his ability to think clearly coming back slightly. She turned to look at him and mischief filled her face from the knowing smirk to the lust in her eyes. 'I would think that was obvious Naruto,' Sakura teased, her eyes flicking down to his waist.

Fire burned his cheeks and he laughed nervously. 'Yeah, and I'm not complaining, but um …'

'What Naruto?' she asked, suddenly unsure, her hand coming away from him. She turned to face him fully and frowned. 'Do you not want to …?'

'No!' Naruto said quickly, waving his hands in front of his chest. 'I mean yes! I really want to do … stuff like that.' He gestured down at himself with an awkward half smile. 'But I thought you didn't want a boyfriend?'

Sakura's frown morphed back into a smile. 'I don't, I meant what I said about wanting to focus on me and my degree but well … it doesn't mean that we can't fool around? And I just thought … I mean, I had a great time that night, and I know you did too. And I've not really stopped thinking about it since the morning I left? And then when we bumped into each other in class, I just thought … well that's got to mean something and you looked so damn hot! And then you asked if I wanted to get coffee … I could have leapt for joy. I had to try you know?'

It was the pinkette's turn to blush and she held his gaze in a way that could only be mesmerising. Even if she was suddenly vulnerable and questioning her decisions she was still staring at him dead on. It was infatuating. He'd give her anything in that moment.

'God, I felt so stupid inviting you to watch movies … could I be more obvious? I literally said Netflix while inviting you round to Netflix and chill!' She dropped her face into her hands, pushing her hair back from her forehead and smiled weakly at him through her fingers. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed … we can just watch the rest of the movie if you want?'

She went to move away, putting distance between them on the sofa for the first time since she'd sat down.

But Naruto reached out to grab her wrist gently. 'So let me get this straight yeah?'

Sakura didn't say anything, just kept looking at him like she wanted the floor to swallow her up.

'You don't want a boyfriend but you want to be friends and sleep with me,' he said slowly. 'You actually invited me over fully intent on getting me into bed by making a move while we watched something on Netflix?'

He squeezed her wrist delicately when Sakura didn't reply. 'Right?'

Sakura winced, but nodded sheepishly, the adorable smile disarming even more than he thought it could. 'Seemed like a good idea at the time?' she offered. 'I'm sorry, Naruto I shouldn't have thought I could just …'

He lifted a finger to hush her and she did, before he smiled at her. 'So you want to be what? Friends with benefits?'

She looked at him, a level of defensiveness falling over her face as she started to frown. 'I guess so, yeah. I hadn't really thought about titles for it. Look if you're not up for it you don't have to be a dic-'

'Yes,' Naruto interrupted with a grin.

'Yes?' Sakura said confusedly. 'Yes what?'

'I'll be your friend with benefits,' Naruto said, his grin spreading wider when Sakura's blush covered her whole face but her lips pulled up to a sly smile.

'And what if I don't want that anymore? You did make me get flustered. I might have changed my mind now.' Her words were teasing and keeping him at bay but her hands went up his thighs, before she slid into his lap, her knees either side of him on the sofa.

Their lips were so close he could taste the beer on her breath. 'Then I guess I'll have to convince you.'

Her fingers went up to his hair, running through the wavy blond and pulled his head back gently. 'Get to convincing then.'

Naruto closed the distance between their lips eagerly, Sakura's tongue meeting his the moment it slipped into her mouth, his hands dropping down to her waist, taking her whole ass in one hand and squeezed. 'Yes ma'am.'

'Mmm,' she hummed into his mouth. Her lips grazing his after the kiss broke and he could feel her smirk. 'Straight to my ass Mr Uzumaki? What if I wanted you to go slow?'

Naruto gave her sublime ass another squeeze and chuckled into her hummed delight. 'Says the woman who was giving me a hand job straight out the gate.'

Her arms looped around his neck, her whole glorious body pressing against his, the weight of her breasts pushed right up against his chest, dizzying. If he hadn't already been hard, the sensation and the memories it slammed back to the forefront of his mind, would have stiffened him like a rock.

Gentle fingers scratched over his neck and then up, burying into his hair and gripping lightly. Sakura's soft, hungry lips pecking a line down to his neck. Her hips started to roll slowly and she sighed happily when Naruto's hands massaged her ass and hips instinctively.

He groaned lowly when her lips passed over his jaw. Her hips finding a rhythm that struck his eager tip just right.

'I wanted to see if the naked woman was turning you on,' Sakura whispered sweetly, placing a deliberate kiss on his jawline. The lie so obvious it became part of the teasing seduction. 'And when it was … well, can't blame a girl for being a little jealous, can you?'

'Jealous?' Naruto breathed out, Sakura's body pulling away much to his protestation, her fingers leaving his hair to scratch at his chest lightly over his shirt. 'Why were you jealous Sakura?'

She sucked on his pulse and Naruto groaned audibly into her hair. The shudder of excitement that ran through Sakura's body vibrating against any part of him she was touching.

Her hand dipped lower, until it was back over his erection and she squeezed him through his jeans. He made a noise somewhere between and groan and a gasp and Sakura giggled into his neck.

'Because,' she said, kissing back up to his mouth so she could look him in the eye. This close he could see every fleck of green that made up the brilliant shades there. And he could see the desire for him so powerfully it pierced his soul. 'I wanted to be the one making your dick hard.'

Fuck. That was possibly the sexiest thing he'd ever goddamned had said to him. And it was even hotter coming from someone who, unless you knew otherwise, would have you thinking butter wouldn't melt.

But the look Sakura was giving him, and the way her tongue slipped into his mouth, told him the butter hadn't just melted it had evaporated.

Both her hands made speedy work of his belt, damn near ripping it loose of the buckle to get at him, purposeful strokes over his straining manhood urging him to aim higher with his own groping.

The smooth skin of her back shivered happily as his palm ghosted up under her shirt. His fingers grazing Sakura's bra strap just as she freed his cock from its denim prison and left him only covered by his boxers.

'Mmm,' Sakura mewled as she stared down at him, her finger tickling the damp spot where his tip met the fabric. Naruto's eyes slammed shut as pleasure rocked through him and his hand fell still on her back. 'Naruto?'

He peeked up at her, the tickling of his tip had turned into stroking the whole thing with her palm, and panted slightly. 'Yeah?'

She leant into him, the view down her cleavage the stuff of wet dreams as her palm and his cock were squashed between their stomachs. 'I'm not jealous anymore,' she murmured against his lips.

 _Fuck_.

'Good,' he gasped, her ministrations picking up as she nibbled his jaw and neck. 'I'd much rather see you topless anyway.'

His fingers fell from her now released bra strap and Sakura laughed against his skin. She reared back and her hands left him. He nearly whined, he really did, but Sakura's sly smile told him he didn't need to worry.

She wasn't done with him yet.

'Sweet talker,' she said. 'But I want to apologise for running out on you the other morning first.'

He wanted to say that her getting her tits out would more than make up for it but he'd learned long ago to never, _ever_ interrupt a woman when she was clearly up to something sexy.

Cheering mentally and caught by complete desperate joy and hope, Naruto watched as Sakura slowly creeped down off of him, between his spreading legs. She stroked up and down his thighs, pulling his jeans down with her until she was kneeling before him, her head hovering above his throbbing self.

She gave him a wink, made sure he was watching her, and then pulled her pink hair up into a ponytail with a tie he hadn't noticed was on her wrist.

He throbbed, something Sakura couldn't even hope to miss, and then throbbed again at the wicked smile that crossed the kneeling woman's plump lips.

Naruto bit his lip to keep the groan that bubbled up behind his teeth as her mouth came dangerously close to his covered tip. She hummed a little tune and the feel of her breath against his boxers made him strain against them all the more.

'I'm seriously regretting not staying now Naruto,' Sakura purred, her fingers rubbing around his base, never touching his shaft, massaging his groin teasingly. Her fingers creeping up to the waistband of his boxers. 'I could feel how big you were when you were in me.'

Naruto moaned softly, Sakura placing a soft kiss just to the side of his base, still not touching.

'But being up close … mmm, lucky me.'

She was evil. He'd come into the home of an evil seductress and he was never goddamn leaving.

'Sakura,' he groaned.

'Shh,' she whispered, finally dragging his waistband down, his boxers being raked down over him until his cock was barely restrained by them.

Arching his neck back, Naruto blew out a heavy breath into the air and his eyes slammed shut in pure anticipation. He felt himself spring free at long last and with not an unsubstantial bit of pride, he also felt the lust coming off of Sakura in waves.

Though mostly that was because her hands had frozen on his thighs and he heard the little delighted smack of her lips parting.

He managed to crack open his eyes to peer down at the beautiful woman, soul piercing green meeting him as her soft, plump lips lowered to his swollen head.

'Fuck,' Naruto hissed as the first touch of her tongue marvelled at his tip, a soft moan of approval vibrating him while Sakura's lips finally, thank merciful God finally, wrapped around his tip.

Sakura sucked on his whole tip with a toe curling moan and started to lower her –

Knocking rang through the apartment. Swift and none too polite, banging on the front door that Naruto almost thrust his whole self into Sakura's mouth when he jumped in the sofa.

If the pinkette hadn't pulled back before that at least. She shot a dirty look at the door and then a longing look at Naruto. Well, part of Naruto.

Damn.

The knocking returned, louder this time and Naruto was already preparing to kill whatever asshole had decided _now_ was the time to call on Sakura.

'Pizza?' a man shouted through the door. 'Pizza for Naruto? Come on pal, I ain't got all day.'

'Shit,' Sakura cursed from her kneeling position. A reflexive smile flashing across her face when she saw how red Naruto must have been. His ears were burning something fierce. Her own cheeks had taken on a brighter shade of pink than her hair too.

'Coming!' Sakura called, having to swallow a giggle when Naruto whined and let his head flop back.

He nearly had a heart attack when Sakura, in one fluid motion, was back up on her feet and making a beeline for the door. A door that when opened would give the pizza delivery guy an eyeful of just how much Naruto had been enjoying himself.

'Sakura!' Naruto hissed, only earning a saucy smirk and a fit of giggles from the crazy woman about to open the door.

He only just had enough time to pull up his boxers and was fiddling with his jeans when the door swung open.

She was gonna pay for that, he didn't know how or when, but to be honest he was doing his best not to think of ways he'd pay her back for this trick right now. It wasn't helping him lose the erection.

'Finally,' the pizza guy, a man in his mid-twenties at a guess, said rudely. 'I was about to – oh. Oh, um, well … heh.'

The pizza guy smirked lewdly, his gaze falling on Naruto's blushing face and then his fumbling hands. It looked like the guy was doing his best not to laugh right in Sakura's pink face.

He did, however, smirk some more when he noticed her hair was up. And if the slightest glance down he had was at her knees, he probably couldn't miss the hint of redness there either.

'Sorry for keeping you waiting,' Sakura said as she started fishing money out of her purse on the counter. She took the pizza box out of his hand and shoved the notes into his still out palm. 'Keep the change.'

'You bet,' the pizza guy said with a final eye at Sakura's knees and then back at Naruto before snorting to himself. 'Sorry to interrupt, enjoy your night.'

He laughed, pocketing the money and turned away without another word. He was laughing so loud though that even when Sakura kicked the door shut, they could still hear him down the corridor.

Naruto stared at the door, Sakura having turned and collapsed against it, the pink in her cheeks getting darker the longer she leant there.

'Oh God,' Sakura said with a shaky laugh. A barely restrained smile struggled to come to the surface when she looked at him. 'Did you forget we'd ordered pizza too?'

He let out a bark of a laugh, which quickly found a friend in Sakura's chest and then another and before Naruto could stop himself he'd thrown his head back, roaring with laughter at the sheer improbability of what had just happened.

Sakura broke down into giggles, almost doubling over with how hard she was laughing. She had to cling to the counter she'd slid the pizza box onto to stay upright.

They finally managed to calm down, Sakura stumbling over to the sofa while giggling into her hand and fell into his lap.

'Fuck Naruto,' she breathed out as the last giggles fell from her mouth. 'I know the pizza guy showing up in the middle of sex is a porn thing, but I never thought it'd happen in real life!'

A shocked laugh ripped out of him as he doubled over, their heads almost colliding as Sakura burst into fresh peals of laughter too, her wiggling in his lap stirring him up against her ass.

'Well,' Naruto wheezed into her neck, random giggles trickling out against each of their skin. 'Shall we see if he brought the sausage?'

Another quick spurt of giggles and Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself. 'Stop,' Sakura gasped, one of her hands clutched to her heart. 'We shouldn't be laughing at this, it's not that funny.'

The blond chuckled, placing a soft kiss against the pinkette's cheek. She dimpled at him, turning to capture his lips in a slow, lingering kiss. A huff of amusement tickling his mouth when they broke apart as far as their foreheads.

Her fingers meshed with his hair and she sighed, the greenness of her eyes all he could see this close to her. 'Real question is though …'

'Mmm?' Naruto asked, taking another quick kiss from her.

'Pizza,' she whispered. Another long, sultry kiss. 'Or bedroom?'

'Depends,' Naruto asked, their kisses acting like punctuation. 'How do you feel about cold pizza?'

'Love.' Kiss. 'It.' Kiss. 'I actually think it's better cold.'

'Good, me too.'

With that, Sakura peeled herself from him, giving her hips a playful wiggle that left him groaning desperately before she got back to her feet. She held out her hand and he took it happily.

'Bedroom's this way,' she said, her voice promising all sorts of things he intended to hold her to. 'Let's try that apology of mine a second time.'

Naruto didn't need to be told twice, letting Sakura all but drag him up the metal spiral staircase and onto her bed. His eyes never leaving her gorgeous peach of an ass. One thought living in his mind the entire time.

Sakura Haruno was the best friend he could have ever asked for.


End file.
